Billionaire Elon Musk said he is terminating his $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter.
The Tesla chief said the social media giant has made “misleading representations,” and has not “complied with its contractual obligations” in providing information related to bots.
Twitter said it plans to take Musk to court to complete the merger, its board chairman said in a Tweet.
“The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery,” Bret Taylor said.
Musk’s move follows his earlier complaints that the social media service, which he accuses to underreport the number of bots on the platform. Twitter has since denied it, saying bots are less than five percent of total users.
Aside from this concern, the billionaire also said Twitter has failed to operate its normal course of business.
“The company has not received parent’s consent for changes in the conduct of its business, including for the specific changes listed above,” Musk said in his letter to Twitter as part of a regulatory filing.
The merger agreement had included a provision wherein if a party decides to abandon the merger, they should pay a $1 billion termination fee.
But another provision could allow Twitter to force Musk to proceed with the deal if it ends up in court. The San Francisco-based technology company could still secure an order enforcing the merger.
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