Elon Musk moved to end Twitter’s lawsuit against him on Thursday, asking a judge to halt the trial that was set to begin in little more than a week and would determine the fate of the social media company.
Mr. Musk said in a legal filing that he was working to arrange financing for the deal, a process that would take several weeks. His acquisition of Twitter would close by Oct. 28, he told the court.
Mr. Musk made his request as Twitter board members discussed his latest offer to buy the company on Thursday morning, as negotiations over the sale of Twitter dragged into their third day.
Lawyers for Mr. Musk accused Twitter of bogging down the process by insisting that the lawsuit continue.
“Twitter will not take yes for an answer. Astonishingly, they have insisted on proceeding with this litigation, recklessly putting the deal at risk and gambling with their stockholders’ interests,” attorneys for Mr. Musk wrote in a legal filing. “Proceeding toward trial is not only an enormous waste of party and judicial resources, it will undermine the ability of the parties to close the transaction.”
Twitter is set to face Mr. Musk in court in less than two weeks for a trial that could force the billionaire to buy the company. But on Monday, Mr. Musk delivered a surprise letter to Twitter declaring he would pay $44 billion for the company, as he agreed to do in April before changing his mind and declaring he would quit the deal.
Mr. Musk’s fresh proposal has left Twitter’s board juggling two high-stakes negotiations: one over the legal battle, and the other about a potential agreement to sell the company that would avert the courtroom drama.
Twitter plans to proceed with its litigation against Mr. Musk until a deal is certain, two people with knowledge of the confidential discussions said. The board’s transaction committee, which includes the technology executives Bret Taylor, Martha Lane Fox and Patrick Pichette, has met weekly with legal and financial advisers to manage the deal-making.
Closing such a deal would normally be a mundane event, with the two sides exchanging the legal documents necessary to transfer ownership of a company. But Mr. Musk’s volatile business dealings have made Twitter hesitant to abandon its lawsuit until Mr. Musk takes ownership of the company and his funds are delivered to Twitter shareholders, the people said.
Mr. Musk’s attorneys argued that clinging to the lawsuit would jeopardize the deal and that the banks who had agreed to fund Mr. Musk’s bid for Twitter were prepared to honor their commitments.
On Thursday, Mr. Musk suggested that he had reluctantly been coaxed to the negotiation table, tweeting a scene from “The Godfather, Part III” that included the line, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.