(NEW YORK) — Elon Musk asked a Delaware court on Friday to reject Twitter’s attempt to put the $44 billion merger case on trial in September, arguing it’s an “unjustifiable” timeframe.
Twitter sued Musk in an attempt to force him to complete his purchase of the company, after declaring he was walking away from the deal.
Twitter sought a four-day trial in September, arguing the deal faces an October deadline to close.
“Twitter’s bid for extreme expedition rests on the false premise that the Termination Date in the merger agreement is October 24, glossing over that this date is automatically stayed if either party files litigation. By filing its complaint, Plaintiff has rendered its supposed need for a September trial moot,” Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, wrote in a Friday court filing.
Delaware Chancery Court will determine whether Musk remains obligated to purchase Twitter or whether he was entitled to walk away because the company failed to provide him data he requested.
“Twitter’s sudden request for warp speed after two months of foot-dragging and obfuscation is its latest tactic to shroud the truth about spam accounts long enough to railroad Defendants into closing,” the filing said.
Musk has claimed Twitter failed to disclose the number of fake accounts on the platform. Twitter has said 5% of active users are bots but Musk has said he does not believe the figure.
“Post-signing, Defendants promptly sought to understand Twitter’s process for identifying false or spam accounts. In a May 6 meeting with Twitter executives, Musk was flabbergasted to learn just how meager Twitter’s process was,” Musk’s filing said.
Musk asked the court to set a trial date no earlier than mid-February.
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