After the controversial takeover of the social media platform was terminated by Tesla chief Elon Musk, Twitter on Monday accused the billionaire entrepreneur of trying to ‘slow walk’ the company's lawsuit to uphold $44 billion takeover and urged a September trial to ensure deal financing remains in place, according to a court filing, reported news agency Reuters.
The company noted that shares took a hit over clouds of uncertainity of the deal earlier and currently over the trial. "Millions of Twitter shares trade daily under a cloud of Musk-created doubt," the company wrote. "No public company of this size and scale has ever had to bear these uncertainties," it noted.
Twitter vs Elon Musk: First online hearing today
Hearing in the plea made by Twitter for a September trial will be held online Tuesday as the chancellor of Delaware's Court of Chancery has tested positive for Covid-19. Kathaleen McCormick, the chancellor of Delaware's Court of Chancery who tested positive for Covid-19, informed that the hearing in Delaware will be moved to Zoom instead of in-person as she needs to be “isolating this week pursuant to CDC guidelines," according to a letter on Monday, reported news agency Bloomberg.
McCormick has set a 90-minute hearing in Wilmington.
The company said if Musk is forced to close the deal it could still take months of additional litigation to close the debt financing, which expires in April. Citing this reason, Twitter has urged the judge to reject Musk's proposal to postpone the trial in February.
The two sides will make their arguments to a Delaware Court of Chancery judge on Tuesday. Twitter has sued Musk and asked a Delaware judge to order him to complete the merger at the agreed price of $54.20 per share.
Musk to countersue
On the other hand, Musk's lawyers are planning to countersue Twitter and gather more information about spam accounts, according to the New York Post report.
Shares of Twitter have slided from more than $50 per share when the deal was announced in April to below $33 a share last week. Twitter's stock closed on Monday at $38.41, up 1.8 per cent.
The $44 billion Twitter deal grabbed the spotight in the world of tech but it was later cancelled as Musk claimed Twitter was unable to offer clarity on the exact figure of spam accounts.