A judge has delayed a looming trial between Twitter and Elon Musk, giving Mr Musk more time to close his 44 billion dollar (£39 billion) deal to buy the company after months spent fighting to get out of it.

Chancellor Kathaleen St Jude McCormick, head of the Delaware Chancery Court, said Thursday that Mr Musk has until October 28 to close the deal. A trial set for October 17 will happen in November if he doesn’t, she said.

Twitter had asked the court to proceed with the upcoming trial against Mr Musk, saying the billionaire refuses to accept the “contractual obligations” of his April agreement to buy the social media company for 44 billion dollars.

Twitter attorneys sent a letter on Thursday to the Delaware Chancery Court’s head judge, not long after Mr Musk’s legal team asked her to call off the trial while he works on a renewed bid to buy the company.

Twitter disputed Mr Musk’s claim that the San Francisco-based company is refusing to accept the new bid, which Mr Musk told the company about earlier this week after trying to terminate the deal over the summer.

The company has been seeking a court order to force the completion of the merger and said it intends to close the deal at the agreed-upon price, but described Mr Musk’s move to delay the trial as “an invitation to further mischief and delay.”

Twitter had said Mr Musk should be aiming to close the deal by Monday, ahead of a trial set to begin a week later on October 17.

Mr Musk’s attorneys said earlier on Thursday that the trial should be adjourned to leave more time for Musk to secure the financing.

Twitter’s shares fell 1.91 dollars, or 3.7%, to close at 49.39 dollars (£43.97) on Thursday. It was the stock’s second day of declines following a surge of more than 22% on Tuesday after Mr Musk made his renewed offer to buy the company.