UK’s Crown Estate sues Twitter over alleged non-payment of rent at London offices | CNN Business

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CNN
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The Crown Estate, a portfolio of British commercial properties historically owned by the monarch, has launched legal proceedings against Twitter over the tech giant’s alleged non-payment of rent at its London offices, a spokesperson for the real estate business told CNN on Monday.

The Crown Estate is run by an independent board and has a collection of commercial buildings and land that generate profits that the British government collects for public spending.

According to a spokesman for the Crown Estate, the legal action follows previous contact with Twitter regarding rent arrears for its office space at 20 Air Street, London. Discussions between the companies are ongoing, the spokesman added.

CNN has reached out to Twitter for comment.

Twitter is currently facing at least one other lawsuit over unpaid rent. A business owner is suing Twitter for breach of contract after the company allegedly failed to pay rent for one of its offices in San Francisco.

The lawsuit concerns Twitter’s office space at 650 California Street, not its main headquarters on Market Street. But it came after media reports said new Twitter owner Elon Musk had stopped paying rent for Twitter’s office space around the world, including its headquarters, and had told employees who did not pay the company’s vendors, in an apparent effort to cut costs.

Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, including a substantial amount of debt financing.

– CNN’s Brian Fung contributed to this report