Elon Musk says he intends to finally complete his $44bn Twitter takeover after a long-running battle between the two parties took another turn late last week.
After trying to pull the plug on the deal over the summer, Musk now says he is ready to close it but claims Twitter “will not take yes for an answer”.
Twitter sued Musk to enforce the agreement in July after Musk said he was pulling out due to concerns about the number of spam bots on the platform.
A trial was set to begin this month but legal proceedings have now been put on hold to give Musk time to complete the purchase.
A Delaware judge confirmed on Friday that a trial would take place next month if the transaction has not been closed by 28 October.
Musk now has two weeks to secure the financing required to buy Twitter, in what amounts to a $54.20 per share deal that was agreed upon back in April.
Attorneys for the Tesla CEO said in a filing: “There is no need for an expedited trial to order defendants to do what they are already doing.”
It’s no surprise that Twitter is not taking Musk at his word, though, considering his surprise U-turns since his audacious buyout was given the green light six months ago.
Twitter responded last week by stating that the latest move by Musk could lead to “further mischief and delay”.
Musk now says he is trying to secure the debt financing to go ahead with the deal but it remains to be seen whether this saga will end just yet.
