Billionaire Elon Musk has apparently changed his mind about buying Twitter, again, and is now willing to proceed with his takeover of the social media platform.
In a letter to the firm, Musk agreed to pay the price he offered months ago before trying to quit the deal.
The surprise reversal comes just weeks before the two sides were due in court.
Twitter, which had sued Musk to force the takeover to move forward, was seen as having the stronger case.
In the letter, attorneys Mr Musk said he intended to move ahead to complete the transaction, pending receipt of the financing and an end of the legal fight.
A spokesperson for Twitter acknowledged the firm had received the proposal, adding “the intention of the company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share” – the price that Musk promised in April.
The apparent win for Twitter sent its shares soaring more than 20 per sent to more than $52 apiece. But the value remained lower than the takeover price, in a sign of lingering investor doubts the deal will go through.
Later on Tuesday, Musk wrote in a tweet: “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app”.
When Musk first revealed plans to buy Twitter in a $44bn deal, he said he wanted to clean up spam accounts on the platform and preserve it as a venue for free speech.
But the billionaire, a prolific Twitter user known for his impulsive style, balked at the purchase just a few weeks later, citing concerns that the number of fake accounts on the platform was higher than Twitter claimed.
Twitter executives denied the accusations, arguing that Musk – the world’s richest person with a net worth of more than $220bn – wanted out because he was worried about the price.
The back-and-forth followed a sharp downturn in the value of technology stocks, including Tesla, the electric car company that Musk leads and is the base of much of his fortune.
The fight, which was scheduled to go to trial October 17, saw the two sides face off in lengthy court filings, private messages and bitter public spats on Twitter, where Musk has more than 100 million followers. (BBC)
