(Bloomberg) — Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Citadel, was added to the list of those Twitter Inc. has subpoenaed in its effort to force Elon Musk to complete his $44 billion purchase of the social media company.
The subpoena notice was filed after notices by Musk’s lawyers saying they had requested records from Twitter advisers Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to gather information on how the two helped steer the company during its deal negotiations with Musk.
Musk’s legal team wants the banks to turn over “documents and communications” about their discussions about the proposed merger and analysis of Twitter’s financial conditions, according to filings made public Wednesday in Delaware Chancery Court. The subpoenas also demand information about any talks “with or about other potential purchasers of Twitter” besides Musk.
Later in the day a filing revealed that Twitter wants information from Griffin.
Efforts to Serve Subpoena
“Service was attempted on August 1, at both the Citadel office at 601 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10022 and at Griffin’s Manhattan residence,” according to the filing. “Citadel refused to accept service on Griffin’s behalf, stating that legal papers will only be accepted at the Chicago office.”
At Griffin’s residence, “the doorman accepted service of the subpoena, but explained to the process server that Griffin’s apartment was currently under construction and unoccupied,” the filing said.
Both sides are seeking information to make their case ahead of the Oct. 17 trial in Twitter’s suit seeking to force Musk to complete the acquisition. He claims he canceled the deal because Twitter failed to provide him with information about the number of spam and bot accounts on the platform. Twitter says his bot complaints were a pretext for him to walk away.
The two have also been fighting over the schedule of the filing of Musk’s counterclaims against Twitter’s lawsuit.
Read More: Musk Says Twitter Uses Court Rules as ‘Shield’ to Hide His Case
Torrent of Subpoenas
Twitter had already sought documents from Musk adviser Morgan Stanley and other banks that offered to finance the acquisition, as well as several investors who backed the deal. The company has since unleashed a torrent of additional subpoenas, including of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX. Musk’s companies were asked to turn over any documents about the Twitter deal, including communications with their boss.
A unit of crypto-currency exchange Binance was also subpoenaed by Twitter. Binance put $500 million into Musk’s $7.1 billion equity raise for the deal in May. Twitter’s lawyers want to know about investment terms and the billionaire’s efforts to syndicate the package, according to court filings.
Twitter also sought information from Musk’s lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and McDermott Will & Emery.
The case is Twitter v. Musk, 22-0613, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington).
(Adds paragraph and story link on dispute over filing of Musk’s counterclaims in second section.)
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