US entrepreneur Elon Musk has told Twitter he is terminating his agreement to take over the social media platform because the company "is in material breach of multiple provisions" of the deal.

The Tesla founder and CEO reached a deal in April to buy Twitter for 44 billion dollars.

But on Friday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission published a letter that lawyers for Musk sent to Twitter the same day to inform the firm he is walking away from the deal.

Musk's representatives wrote that Twitter has failed to provide information on the number of fake or spam accounts on the platform.

Musk has been seeking that information to determine the veracity of Twitter's claim that such accounts represent fewer than 5 percent of the total. He has said the information is necessary to assess the firm's corporate value.

Twitter quickly hit back. Chairman Bret Taylor said in a Twitter post that the company's board is committed to closing the transaction.

Taylor said the board "plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement."