ISTANBUL (AA) – A US judge ruled Thursday to delay a looming trial between Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, allowing the billionaire and the social media platform more time to seal their $44 billion deal.

“If the transaction does not close by 5 p.m. on October 28, 2022, the parties are instructed to contact me by email that evening to obtain November 2022 trial dates,” Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick said in the order.

A Twitter-Elon Musk trial was originally set for Oct. 17.

The announcement comes after Musk sent a letter to Twitter notifying the social media company that he intends to close the transaction on the terms he agreed to in April, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated Monday.

Earlier Thursday, Twitter’s lawyers objected to Musk’s request, asking McCormick to proceed with the trial.

Musk sent his first letter to terminate the deal in July, alleging that Twitter violated the original agreement by misrepresenting the number of spam and fake accounts on its platform.

Twitter, in turn, sued Musk to complete the acquisition, accusing the billionaire of using bots as a ploy to walk away from the takeover.
Twitter shareholders voted earlier this month in favor of Musk’s original agreement.