Elon Musk Offers to Close His Deal to Buy Twitter If Company Drops Lawsuit Against Him
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ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Elon Musk
Months after trying to back out of purchasing Twitter, which spurred on a legal battle with the company, Elon Musk is offering to follow through with the deal.
According to a letter sent to Twitter's legal team on Monday, the Tesla CEO agreed "to proceed" with the April 25 transaction — worth $44 billion — if Twitter drops its lawsuit.
The letter, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, also requests that Twitter provide receipts of the company's debt financing in order to close the deal.
The deal could be struck as soon as Friday, CNBC reported. If an agreement is reached, both parties would avoid a five-day trial, scheduled to begin later this month, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bloomberg, which was the first to report on the news, previously reported that according to a source familiar with the matter, Musk made the move after his legal team sensed he would lose if the case ultimately went to trial.
Musk's attorneys did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Twitter confirmed in a statement Tuesday that it intends to move forward with the deal.
"We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC," the company wrote. "The intention of the Company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share."
The New York Times reported that the company has yet to accept the proposal and plans to add conditions to try and help ensure the deal goes through smoothly.
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On Tuesday, Musk responded to the news with a Tweet of his own that suggests his purchase of the company will lead to further innovation.
"Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app," he wrote, teasing a new project.
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Less than three months after agreeing to purchase Twitter, Musk reneged on the deal. In July, Twitter filed its lawsuit to compel Musk to follow through.
In their counterclaims, Musk's legal team claimed that Twitter had a "scheme to mislead investors about the company's prospects" and suggested the company "was miscounting the number of false and spam accounts on its platform."
Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor called the claims "factually inaccurate, legally insufficient, and commercially irrelevant" in a Tweet posted after the filing was submitted.
