Musk Asks Delaware Judge to Halt Lawsuit Over $44 Billion Twitter Deal
A judge halted the court case against Elon Musk over his $44 billion purchase of Twitter Inc., giving the parties until 5 p.m. on Oct. 28 to complete the deal.
Delaware Chancery Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick said if the transaction isn't done by that time, she will set trial dates in November, according to an order issued Thursday.
The ruling is a win for Musk, who asked the judge to pause Twitter's lawsuit against him, saying the social media company “will not take yes for an answer” after he revived his bid to buy it. The billionaire earlier this week proposed consummating the $54.20-per-share deal provided the court “enter an immediate stay of the action” and “adjourn the trial and all other proceedings,” according to a letter dated Oct. 3. In Musk's Thursday filing, the billionaire's lawyers said they are now aiming for an Oct. 28 closing date.
Twitter objected to his request to pause, saying the billionaire “can and should” close the deal next week.
Talks between the two sides have been stuck after Musk said that his offer is now contingent on receiving $13 billion in debt financing. The original deal, which he originally proposed in April and then reneged on, didn't contain such a contingency. Musk said Twitter is resisting halting court proceedings based on the “theoretical possibility of a future failure to obtain the debt financing.”
“The obstacle to terminating this litigation is not, as defendants say, that Twitter is unwilling to take yes for an answer,” Twitter lawyers said in a court filing responding to Musk's request to put the case on hold. “The obstacle is that Defendants still refuse to accept their contractual obligations.”
Musk's lawyers had said that “Twitter cannot show any prejudice from a brief stay
Read more on tech.hindustantimes.com
