(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk said a lawsuit by Twitter Inc. shareholders should be tossed because it has no legal merit and is merely an attempt to “harness the spectacle” around him and his $44 billion acquisition of the social-media platform.

The billionaire’s lawyers late Monday filed papers in Manhattan federal court seeking to dismiss the proposed class action, which claims Musk committed securities fraud by missing a March 24 regulatory deadline to disclose that he owned more than 5% of Twitter’s shares. 

Musk reported he had amassed more than 9% on April 4. The suit claims the delay allowed Musk to quietly buy more Twitter shares at an artificially low price. Company shares rose 27% on April 4, they said. Musk offered to buy the company on April 14.

According to Musk, the alleged failure to disclose can’t be characterized as fraud under Securities and Exchange Commission rules. He also claims shareholders can’t prove he had a plan at that time to take over the company. 

“Plaintiff fails to plead a cogent reason for embarking upon a scheme to conceal the acquisition of Twitter shares beginning on March 25, 2022, only to disclose that purported scheme 10 days later,” Musk said in his filing.

The suit was initially filed by Marc Bain Rasella in April. It is now being led by the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, which is seeking to represent a class of investors who sold Twitter shares from March 25 to April 4. 

The case is Rasella v. Musk, 22-cv-03026, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

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