Greg Roumeliotis and Krystal Hu

(Reuters) – Elon Musk attempts to find new financing to limit the cash contribution to his $44 Billion acquisition Twitter Inc According to people familiar, the stock exchange (NYSE:), was put on hold by uncertainty.

Musk threatened to leave the agreement if the social media giant does not provide him data that backs up the claim that spam or false accounts make up less than 5%. Musk’s legal team sent Monday a warning to Twitter that Musk may walk off if more information wasn’t forthcoming.

After arranging the financing for the remainder, Musk will have to cough up $33.5 billion cash. Because his wealth is tied to Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:) Inc shares, Musk’s electric car manufacturer, it is difficult for him to have liquidity.

Sources say that Musk was in talks to get preferred equity financing in the range of $2 billion-$3 billion from a group including Apollo Global Management (NYSE.) Inc. The funding would allow him to reduce his cash contribution. One source said that these conversations have been put on hold to ensure clarity regarding the future acquisition.

First, the pause in financing activity is a clear indication that Musk’s threats may be interfering with the steps necessary to complete the deal. Twitter claims that Musk is fulfilling his contractual obligations, which includes helping to obtain regulatory approval.

Twitter and Musk spokespeople did not respond when asked. Apollo did not comment.

Musk has sold shares worth $8.5billion in Tesla stock after signing the deal to acquire Twitter. However, it’s not known how much cash he will have to fulfill his obligation. To reduce his contribution, he has received $7.1 billion in equity co-investors. Musk tried to limit his risk further with a $12.5 Billion margin loan that was tied to Tesla shares. But, he abandoned it last month.

Twitter would issue a fixed dividend for preferred equity, which would be the equivalent of a regular loan or bond that pays interest. However, the value of the company would increase in line with its equity.

BUYER’S REMORSE

Banks’ plans to syndicate $13 billion worth of debt to acquire the assets have been hampered by deal uncertainty. The sources claimed that the banks will not syndicate debt until they have clarity regarding the deal, but are ready to start the process.

Sources said that the banks are not convinced credit investors won’t buy the debt so long as uncertainty persists. According to sources, banks also find Musk’s negative comments concerning the company ineffective and are hoping that he will help them with investor presentations to facilitate the deal.

The banks and Musk have made their commitments to finance the deal. This is certain. Twitter may take them to court to have them comply with the financing requirements under the contract.

Due to Musk’s Twitter dispute, which escalated into litigation, banks may have to syndicate the debt. The judge ordered them to pay the money. If Musk was not willing to purchase the company, it could be difficult for them to find investors who will buy the debt.

This possibility however is considered unlikely. Investors are trading Twitter stock as they believe it’s more likely that Twitter will reach a settlement or allow Musk to walk away than endure long-running litigation.