Elon Musk said he believes Twitter is breaching their merger agreement by not meeting his demands for information about spam and fake accounts, injecting another twist into a takeover saga marked by the billionaire’s serial outbursts.
Twitter’s shares slumped 2.6 per cent on Monday, reinforcing doubts that Musk would finalise his $US54.20-a-share offer and further widening the gap between the market’s expectations and the billionaire’s price. In a statement, Twitter said it “has and will continue to cooperatively share information with Mr Musk to consummate the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement”.
The proposed takeover includes a $US1 billion breakup fee for each party, but Musk can’t just walk away by paying the charge. The merger agreement includes a specific performance provision that allows Twitter to force Musk to consummate the deal, according to the original filing. That could mean that, should the deal end up in court, Twitter might secure an order obligating Musk to complete the merger rather than winning monetary compensation for any violations of it.