Twitter wants Musk's takeover whether Musk likes it or not

Twitter asked shareholders to vote on Elon Musk's takeover of the company at a special meeting. In short, Twitter wants to move forward with the purchase whether Musk likes it or not.

The company asked shareholders in a proxy statement to vote in favor of the acquisition, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The date for the special meeting has not yet been set.

"Twitter’s Board of Directors, after considering the factors more fully described in the enclosed proxy statement, unanimously: (1) determined that the merger agreement is advisable and the merger and the other transactions contemplated by the merger agreement are fair to, advisable and in the best interests of Twitter and its stockholders; and (2) adopted and approved the merger agreement, the merger and the other transactions contemplated by the merger agreement," the filing reads.

Twitter's filing contradicts Musk's claims that the deal "cannot move forward" because its reported number of bots on the platform are false. The company has said that less than 5% of active accounts on the platform are bots or spammers, but Musk claimed yesterday — without citing any evidence — that the percentage is closer to 20%. Musk and Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal got into a public tiff over the figure Monday, which resulted in some late-night thoughts from Musk.

"My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate," Musk tweeted overnight. "Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%. This deal cannot move forward until he does."

Musk's apparent qualms with bots and spam accounts could signal that he's trying to find a way either to shimmy his way out of the purchase or to get a better deal than the $54.20 per share he offered, but the company is apparently holding him to the contract.