In premarket trading, Twitter’s shares fell further, down 2%.
In a statement to regulators on Tuesday, the company said it was “committed to completing the transaction as soon as possible and on the agreed price and terms.” In a document explaining the background and rationale for the transaction, Twitter said, “If the merger does not complete, The price of our common stock may decline significantly depending on the circumstances that prevent the merger from consummating.”
Musk, who also leads electric car maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, has sparked confusion over the status of the deal. On Friday, he tweeted that his purchase of Twitter was “on hold” until he could get more details on the number of spam and fake accounts on the platform. He later followed up by saying he remained “committed” to the deal.
How Elon Musk’s Twitter deal unfolded
Blockbuster deal. The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has ended a seemingly impossible attempt by the famously capricious billionaire to buy Twitter for about $44 billion. Here’s how the deal unfolds:
Twitter executives have been targeted by Musk.
On Monday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal posted a lengthy The thread details how the company counts its bots. He said the company had “shared an overview of the estimation process with Elon a week ago.” Mr Musk responded to the topic with a poop emoji.
Last month, Musk went after Twitter’s top lawyer, who oversees the platform’s content moderation policies. Musk’s supporters have followed his lead with a slew of abuse at company executives.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Twitter declined to comment.
Shares of tech companies have been hit since Musk first announced his acquisition of Twitter earlier this month. Shares in Tesla, Musk’s main source of wealth, have fallen nearly 30 percent.
Renegotiating the deal will not be easy. In addition to the $1 billion breakup fee, Mr. Musk’s deal with Twitter includes a “performance-specific clause” that gives the company the right to sue him and force him to close the deal, as long as the debt financing he received remains intact.
But Musk has also created a very headache for Twitter. Over the weekend, he tweeted that Twitter’s legal department “called to complain” that he had violated a nondisclosure agreement discussing a 100 sample size of its bots. Musk’s deal with Twitter also has a non-disparaging clause that prohibits him from tweeting negative information about the deal.
So far, the two sides have continued as if a deal had been reached. Teams from both sides held a scheduled meeting on Friday. (Twitter confirmed the meeting was “part of the deal planning process.”) On Friday, Twitter chairman Bret Taylor tweeted: “We remain committed to our agreement.”
Mike Isaac contributed to this article.
