Looking forward to closing the transaction at $54.20, says Twitter
Taking notes from the Twitter Deal, a Delaware judge ordered a halt to Twitter Inc's lawsuit against Elon Musk on the eve of trial, giving the billionaire time to finance his $44 billion takeover of the social media platform.
The ruling followed days of uncertainty about Musk's intentions and removed the threat that the erratic entrepreneur would have to testify under oath this week about his claims that Twitter fraudulently misled him.
The judge's order said if Musk, the world's richest person, failed to close by her October 28 5 pm EDT deadline, she would schedule a trial for November.
Speaking to the media, Twitter said, "We look forward to closing the transaction at $54.20 by October 28th." In an earlier court filing, the company urged the judge to reject the proposal, calling Musk's plan "an invitation to further mischief and delay."
Elon Musk, chief executive of electric carmaker Tesla, was scheduled to go to trial on October 17 and his Thursday deposition was postponed by mutual agreement.
Twitter shares, which ended the day down 3.7 per cent at $49.39, rose 1 per cent after hours as investors appeared reassured after days of confusion. This week, Musk said he would purchase Twitter at the $54.20 per share price he agreed to in April, on the condition the deal could secure debt financing.
It marked a reversal for Musk, who spent months in litigation with Twitter as he tried to get out of the deal. He claimed Twitter misrepresented the number of real users on its platform, among other claims.
On Thursday, Tesla's CEO said court filing banks are working cooperatively to fund the deal but he needed more time. He argued that a brief delay was preferable to the months it would take for a trial and appeal.
Twitter had said Musk should have to close next week and it said a corporate representative for a lending bank testified on Thursday that Musk has yet to send them a borrowing notice and has not communicated that he intends to close.
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