Elon Musk intends to countersue Twitter in order to bring the $44 billion deal to a close, according to a Monday report.
According to sources of the New York Post, Musk’s lawyers intend to give themselves more time to gather information about the bots on Twitter, which was the primary reason that Musk was attempting to end the deal.
Twitter’s lawsuit is an attempt to force him to go through with the deal, which he began in April after he offered to purchase the company for $54.20 per share. He announced a week prior to the lawsuit that he was beginning the process to end the deal before it went through, prompting the suit.
On Friday, Musk’s lawyers accused Twitter of withholding information about fake accounts, creating delays, providing evasive responses and putting up technical obstacles. The filing disputed Twitter’s request for an expedited trial, arguing that information about bot accounts cannot be accurately obtained in that amount of time.
“The core dispute over false and spam accounts is fundamental to Twitter’s value,” Musk’s lawyers wrote in the filing. “It is also extremely fact and expert intensive, requiring substantial time for discovery.”
The filing also included complaints and accusations that Musk had made previously, such as Twitter’s firing of two high-level managers without his knowledge or consent, in violation of the terms of the deal.
Twitter is attempting to obtain a four-day trial starting in September, while Musk pushes for a later date. Delaware Court Chancellor of the Court of Chancery Kathaleen McCormick is expected to weigh Twitter’s request for an expedited trial. McCormick would also hear Musk’s countersuit were his legal team to file one.
University of Iowa corporate finance and law professor Robert T. Miller told the New York Post that The Court of Chancery is expected to grant Twitter’s request for an expedited trial, and therefore there is no reason for Musk to not file a countersuit, because “if he doesn’t do that, he’s surrendering.”
Miller doesn’t expect a countersuit to turn the tide in Musk’s favor if he reiterates the same claims about Twitter bots without new evidence. But bringing in new arguments could give him more sway and his plea could be more reasonably heard.
“If he comes up with a completely new issue that has not been raised, it could change things,” Miller said.
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