Elon Musk has told bankers who are helping to fund his A$70 billion Twitter takeover that he will close the deal by Friday

Musk made this pledge in a video conference call with the bankers, led by Morgan Stanley, who are providing up to A$20 billion of debt financing.

The banks are in currently signing the final credit agreement and are expected to receive a borrowing notice today, with the cash to be held in escrow until Friday.

Musk has also promised to help the banks ‘sell’ the debts to money manager. No doubt they will be hoping to get a firmer commitment than the original debt letter, which only promises Musk will help up to 30 days after the deal closes, and will participate for two-hours at the most in any investor meetings.

Earlier this week, Twitter froze equity awards accounts for its employees, a sure sign the deal was expected to go ahead.

Twitter alerted staff they would not be able to trade or access their shares from the company’s Equity Award Centre, “in anticipation of the closing of the pending acquisition of Twitter by an entity controlled by Elon Musk.”

Until the deal is signed, nothing is confirmed – especially with Elon Musk in the driver’s seat.