After trying to back out from the $44-billion deal to buy Twitter, Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk has proposed to go ahead with the deal for the original offer price of $54.20 a share.
This is seen as a move by Musk to avoid a courtroom fight over one of the most contentious acquisitions in recent history. Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Musk said that buying Twitter is "an accelerant to creating X, the everything app".
Musk has been trying to back out of the deal for several months after signing on to buy the social media platform in April.
Twitter shares jumped 12.7% to $47.93 before trading was halted for the second time, while Tesla shares rose by about 1%.
Earlier, Musk claimed that Twitter under-counted the number of fake accounts on its platform, and Twitter sued when Musk announced the deal was off.
The trial seeking to compel Musk to buy Twitter is set to start in Delaware Chancery Court on Oct. 17.
Musk has been trying to back out of the deal for several months after signing on to buy the San Francisco company in April. His argument for walking away from the deal — has largely rested on the allegation that Twitter misrepresented how it measures the magnitude of “spam bot” accounts that are useless to advertisers.
But most legal experts believed he faced an uphill battle in convincing Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the court's head judge, that something changed since the April merger agreement that justifies terminating the deal.
