<p>Elon Musk on Monday warned that he might walk away from his $44 billion offer to acquire Twitter Inc if the social media network failed to provide data on spam and fake accounts.</p>.<p>In a letter to Twitter, the billionaire reiterated his request for details on bot accounts and said he reserved all rights to terminate the merger as the company was in a "clear material breach" of its obligations by not providing him with the information.</p>.<p>Twitter shares fell as much as 5.6% to $37.92 and were trading at a steep discount to Musk's offer of $54.20 per share, suggesting that investors did not expect the deal to close at the agreed price. They were last down 2.7%.</p>.<p>"Twitter has and will continue to cooperatively share information with Musk to consummate the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement," the company said in a statement.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/twitter-says-waiting-period-for-musks-deal-has-expired-1114996.html">Twitter says waiting period for Musk's deal has expired</a></strong></p>.<p>It intends to close the deal at the agreed price and terms, Twitter added</p>.<p>Musk put the deal "temporarily on hold" in mid-May, saying he will not move forward with the offer until Twitter showed proof that spam bots account for less than 5% of its total users.</p>.<p>Since then, the takeover saga has seen several twists and turns, raising questions about Musk's intentions to complete the deal at the set price.</p>.<p>Although Musk has extensively used the social-media platform to air his views on the deal and the company, this is the first time that he has formally threatened to walk away.</p>.<p>"It's fairly obvious that he has buyer's remorse and he is trying whatever to get a reduction in price, and I think he may succeed," said Dennis Dick, a proprietary trader at Bright Trading LLC.</p>.<p>"You can see the sell-off in social media stocks and he has realized that he overpaid ... all these are tactics just to get a reduction in price."</p>.<p>Musk has questioned the accuracy of Twitter's public filings about spam accounts, claiming they must be at least 20% of the user base. Twitter has disagreed, with Chief Executive Parag Agrawal providing details on how the company handles spam accounts in one of his recent tweets.</p>.<p>A self proclaimed free-speech absolutist, Musk has said one of his priorities will be to remove "spam bots" from the platform. The Tesla Inc CEO owns 9.6% of Twitter and has over 95 million followers on the network.</p>.<p>As part of the deal, Musk is contractually obligated to pay a $1 billion break-up fee - a sliver of his fortune of $219 million estimated by Forbes - if he does not complete the deal. Twitter can sue for "specific performance" to force Musk to complete the deal and obtain a settlement from him as a result.</p>.<p>In his letter, Musk said he needed the data to conduct his own analysis of Twitter users and did not believe in the company's "lax testing methodologies."</p>.<p>"He is trying to walk away from the Twitter deal, this is the first shot across the bow," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said.</p>.<p>Musk has lined up several high-profile investors, including Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Sequoia Capital, to fund the deal.</p>
<p>Elon Musk on Monday warned that he might walk away from his $44 billion offer to acquire Twitter Inc if the social media network failed to provide data on spam and fake accounts.</p>.<p>In a letter to Twitter, the billionaire reiterated his request for details on bot accounts and said he reserved all rights to terminate the merger as the company was in a "clear material breach" of its obligations by not providing him with the information.</p>.<p>Twitter shares fell as much as 5.6% to $37.92 and were trading at a steep discount to Musk's offer of $54.20 per share, suggesting that investors did not expect the deal to close at the agreed price. They were last down 2.7%.</p>.<p>"Twitter has and will continue to cooperatively share information with Musk to consummate the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement," the company said in a statement.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/twitter-says-waiting-period-for-musks-deal-has-expired-1114996.html">Twitter says waiting period for Musk's deal has expired</a></strong></p>.<p>It intends to close the deal at the agreed price and terms, Twitter added</p>.<p>Musk put the deal "temporarily on hold" in mid-May, saying he will not move forward with the offer until Twitter showed proof that spam bots account for less than 5% of its total users.</p>.<p>Since then, the takeover saga has seen several twists and turns, raising questions about Musk's intentions to complete the deal at the set price.</p>.<p>Although Musk has extensively used the social-media platform to air his views on the deal and the company, this is the first time that he has formally threatened to walk away.</p>.<p>"It's fairly obvious that he has buyer's remorse and he is trying whatever to get a reduction in price, and I think he may succeed," said Dennis Dick, a proprietary trader at Bright Trading LLC.</p>.<p>"You can see the sell-off in social media stocks and he has realized that he overpaid ... all these are tactics just to get a reduction in price."</p>.<p>Musk has questioned the accuracy of Twitter's public filings about spam accounts, claiming they must be at least 20% of the user base. Twitter has disagreed, with Chief Executive Parag Agrawal providing details on how the company handles spam accounts in one of his recent tweets.</p>.<p>A self proclaimed free-speech absolutist, Musk has said one of his priorities will be to remove "spam bots" from the platform. The Tesla Inc CEO owns 9.6% of Twitter and has over 95 million followers on the network.</p>.<p>As part of the deal, Musk is contractually obligated to pay a $1 billion break-up fee - a sliver of his fortune of $219 million estimated by Forbes - if he does not complete the deal. Twitter can sue for "specific performance" to force Musk to complete the deal and obtain a settlement from him as a result.</p>.<p>In his letter, Musk said he needed the data to conduct his own analysis of Twitter users and did not believe in the company's "lax testing methodologies."</p>.<p>"He is trying to walk away from the Twitter deal, this is the first shot across the bow," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said.</p>.<p>Musk has lined up several high-profile investors, including Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Sequoia Capital, to fund the deal.</p>