In a nutshell: Elon Musk and Twitter won’t be going to trial against each other in ten days now that the world’s richest man has agreed to purchase the platform at its original price of $54.20 per share, or $44 billion. The caveat is that the transaction must complete by October 28; otherwise, the trial will take place in November.

The seemingly endless saga that is Musk’s ongoing spat with Twitter took another twist on Monday when the Tesla boss did a U-turn and decided he would buy the company at the original agreed price, almost three months after he backed out of the acquisition over allegations there are a lot more fake accounts on the site than Twitter claims.

It’s suspected that Musk changed his mind, again, as it was looking increasingly likely that the law would be on Twitter’s side in the upcoming legal battle.

But it’s not been smooth sailing since Musk decided he would pay the $44 billion Twitter wants. Yesterday, he asked the presiding judge, Kathaleen McCormick, to pause all litigation as he looks to secure funding for the deal. McCormick has now agreed to the request.

Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2022

A representative said Musk is still finalizing a $12.5 billion debt funding package required to complete the purchase, but it wouldn’t be ready before October 17. It’s speculated that Musk could sell more of his Tesla shares to help fund the deal if needed. Both sides have until 5 pm on October 28 to complete the transaction or the trial will commence sometime next month.

Interestingly, Musk’s lawyers argued that the platform would not “take yes for an answer” and wouldn’t agree to pause the trial.

Given all that Musk has gone through in his attempts to delay the trial, Twitter isn’t 100% convinced that this isn’t another tactic by the billionaire—the company said his request for delay include provisions that are “an invitation to further mischief and delay.” But then it has good reason to be suspicious. A Twitter filing claims that a representative of one of Musk’s lending banks said that as of yesterday morning, they had not received notice that he intends to close the deal.

“Defendants can and should close next week,” said Twitter’s lawyers. “Until they do, this action is not moot and should be brought to trial.”

It appears that Musk taking over Twitter still isn’t a foregone conclusion, especially if the debt financing fails to materialize. This saga might still have a few more chapters.

h/t: The Guardian