Twitter To Be Temporarily Delisted From NYSE As Deadline For Musk Deal Approaches

Shares of Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) are set to be suspended from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Friday as the social media company and Elon Musk approach the deadline to finalize the $44 billion deal. The announcement marks a somewhat peaceful ending to the Musk-Twitter saga, which almost resulted in a legal battle of titans.

Banks Begin to Fund Their Portion of the $44 Billion Acquisition

Twitter’s shares will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Oct. 28, according to the delisting notice from the exchange giant. The suspension comes as Elon Musk approaches the deadline this Friday to complete the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

NYSE announced the delisting after reports that banks have started funding their $13 billion portion of the deal, sending Twitter’s stock over 1% in premarket trading Thursday. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that deal backers including Binance, Sequoia Capital, and Qatar Investment Authority, among others, have received the paperwork for their funding commitment from Musk’s lawyers.

Musk, who proposed to buy Twitter at $54.20 per share earlier this year, paid a visit to the company’s headquarters in San Francisco on Wednesday. Tesla’s boss also reinforced hopes that the deal will be closed after changing his Twitter profile bio to “Chief Twit” and location to “Twitter HQ.”

A Happy Ending?

While the delisting notice itself is not a big surprise – given that the court-ordered deadline to complete the deal is set on Oct. 28 – it suggests that the months-long dispute between Musk and Twitter will result in a handshake without further escalation.

Not long after offering to buy Twitter for $44 billion, Musk placed the deal on hold, demanding from the social media company to prove that no more than 5% of its users are bots. Musk estimated that roughly 20% of Twitter accounts are fake and bot accounts, though the social media company fiercely denied those allegations.

In July, Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk in a bid to try to force the billionaire to complete the deal at the agreed price. Delaware Chancery Court ruled in favor of Twitter, ordering a 5-day trial in October. Musk and his lawyers asked the judge to delay the trial for 2023 but the request was denied, with the judge citing potentially irreparable harm to Twitter if the dispute gets prolonged.

Finally, after months of trial preparations, Musk agreed to pursue the deal. However, even though the transaction is set to be closed, the announcement might not be completely celebratory if Musk follows through with his plan to lay off 75% of Twitter staff.