Deal or no deal? Apparently, the deal is a no, if Elon Musk has his way about his planned $44 billion purchase of the social media platform Twitter.
Musk said his advisers sent a letter on Friday (July 8) to Twitter formally notifying the company that he is ending the agreement. He’s basing the termination on allegations that the social media platform breached multiple aspects of the merger agreement, including regarding the number and influence of spam bots.
In the letter, also part of a regulatory filing, Musk said that Twitter has not “complied with its contractual obligations” to provide information about how to assess how prevalent the bots are on the social media service, multiple media outlets reported.
See also: Musk: ‘Integrate Payments Into Twitter’
Twitter’s board chairman Bret Taylor tweeted that the company is still committed to closing the deal at the price and terms agreed upon and “plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement.”
Musk’s Skadden Arps attorney Mike Ringler said that “Twitter has not complied with its contractual obligations” and didn’t supply what was needed and requested.
“Twitter has failed or refused to provide this information,” Ringler said, CNBC reported. “Sometimes Twitter has ignored Mr. Musk’s requests, sometimes it has rejected them for reasons that appear to be unjustified, and sometimes it has claimed to comply while giving Mr. Musk incomplete or unusable information.”
Read more: Elon Musk’s Income Plans for Twitter Include Charging for Tweets
According to the letter, Ringler also said that Twitter breached the agreement because it allegedly contains “materially inaccurate representations” regarding the number of spam accounts.
“Despite public speculation on this point, Mr. Musk did not waive his right to review Twitter’s data and information simply because he chose not to seek this data and information before entering into the Merger Agreement,” Ringer said. “In fact, he negotiated access and information rights within the Merger Agreement precisely so that he could review data and information that is important to Twitter’s business before financing and completing the transaction.”
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More