Elon Musk, Twitter spar over request to halt site’s lawsuit on eve of trial

Elon Musk said banks are working to finance his $44 billion deal for Twitter Inc and asked a judge to halt the social media company’s lawsuit, which Twitter swiftly rejected and said the case should head to trial this month, according to Thursday court filings.

The world’s richest person said this week he would purchase Twitter at the price he agreed in April, $54.20 per share, but conditioned the deal on receiving debt financing.

Banks are working cooperatively to fund the deal, which is expected to close on or around Oct. 28, the court filing said.

“As a result there is no need for an expedited trial to order defendants to do what they are already doing and this action is now moot,” said the filing.