But the takeover faces major uncertainty after Musk filed to end his $44 billion bid earlier this month, saying Twitter had “failed or refused” to hand over information that would have helped Musk and his team determine the real number of bots or spam accounts on social networks. media platform. Twitter has vowed to move forward with the deal and counter by filing a lawsuit against Musk.
“After staging a public spectacle to mock Twitter, and after proposing and then signing an amicable merger agreement with the vendor, Musk apparently believes that he — unlike any other party subject to Delaware contract law -it – is free to change its mind, discard the company, disrupt its operations, destroy shareholder value and leave,” the company wrote in its lawsuit.
Nell Minow, a corporate governance expert who is vice president of ValueEdge Advisors, said Twitter’s timing of the shareholder vote, which is a required step in completing the deal, is probably not a coincidence.
Holding the shareholder vote ahead of the trial signals that Twitter is proceeding with the deal as normal.
“I think it’s strategic,” she said. “If I were the lawyers advising Twitter, I’d say the power move here is to act like the deal is going forward.”
Twitter has an obligation to act in the best interests of its shareholders and has indicated that completing the deal remains its goal. A Delaware judge scheduled a trial on the lawsuit in October.
“This is all just a big battleship game as they are moving pieces,” added Minow, who is an investor in Tesla, Musk’s electric car company.
