Twitter To Hold Shareholder Vote In September Over Elon Musk's Offer

Elon Musk has appealed a judge to schedule a five-day trial from October 17 instead of October 10 as requested by Twitter, according to a court filing on Tuesday

Twitter-Musk Deal: With the world’s richest man Tesla Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk pulling the plug on a $44 billion buyout, Twitter on Tuesday said the company will hold a virtual shareholders meet on September 13 to vote on the merger agreement. The social media platform has sent letters to its shareholders about the virtual special meeting, reported news agency ANI citing CNN.

Shareholders will be able to watch the meeting live and then vote, the company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Twitter shareholders will be entitled to receive $54.20 in cash for each common share they own if the buyout deal is completed, the company said, while adding that its board was strongly in favour of the takeover.

This comes after the Delaware Court ruled out that Twitter's case against Elon Musk for terminating the deal will go to trial in October this year. Twitter has filed a motion to expedite the proceedings and requested a four-day trial in September which has been opposed by Musk's legal team.

In a separate filing, the company disclosed that it had significantly slowed hiring in the second quarter and was being more selective with filling roles in a move to cut costs, reported news agency Reuters.

Earlier in May, Twitter's CEO Parag Agrawal announced that the micro-blogging company would halt most hirings and review all existing job offers.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk has appealed to a judge to schedule a five-day trial from October 17 instead of October 10 as requested by Twitter, according to a court filing on Tuesday, reported Reuters.

Musk’s lawyer said he was writing to ask the judge to "break the impasse to allow things to move forward promptly."

Last week, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, the chief judge on Delaware's Court of Chancery, ordered an October trial of one of the biggest Wall Street legal tussles in years. However, it was left to the parties to arrive at the precise schedule.

Earlier, Musk had requested a February trial, which he said provided the time he needed for a thorough investigation of fake accounts on Twitter. Musk called off the acquisition saying that the social micro-blogging platform misrepresented its user numbers and therefore breached the merger agreement.