A judge has ordered a halt to Twitter's lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk so that he has more time to complete his $44 billion (€45 billion) takeover of the social media company.

However, if the deal is not finalized, the trial will be rescheduled for November.

"If the transaction does not close by 5 p.m. on October 28, 2022, the parties are instructed to contact me by email that evening to obtain November 2022 trial dates," Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick said on Thursday.

In a statement, Twitter said: "We look forward to closing the transaction at $54.20 [per share] by October 28th."

'Twitter will not take yes for an answer'

As part his renewed offer to buy Twitter, Musk has called for the company to drop its lawsuit against him altogether, arguing that it was no longer necessary.

But Twitter argued that dropping the case would give Musk an "indefinite" time frame to close the deal that would "an invitation to further mischief and delay."

"Until defendants commit to close as required, Twitter is entitled to its day in court to ... prove [Musk's] breaches so as to ensure complete relief in the event the closing should for any reason not occur," Twitter's attorneys said.

Musk in turn accused Twitter of obstructing the process.

"There is no need for an expedited trial to order defendants to do what they are already doing and this action is now moot," Musk's legal team said in a court filing.

"Yet, Twitter will not take yes for an answer. Astonishingly, they have insisted on proceeding with this litigation, recklessly putting the deal at risk and gambling with their stockholders interests."