Twitter confirms Elon Musk has offered to strike deal to buy company

Trading in shares of Twitter were halted after the stock spiked. Credit: AP

Twitter has confirmed that Elon Musk has offered to buy the company again, following a series of legal battles.

The social media giant said in a statement that it plans to agree to the offer at 54.20 dollars (£47.23) per share, the same price Musk previously put forward.

The total value of the deal would be 44 billion dollars (£38.3 billion).

Mr Musk, founder of SpaceX, was due to go to trial after pulling out of the original Twitter deal Credit: Yui Mok/PA

A spokesperson for Twitter said: “We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC. The intention of the company is to close the transaction at 54.20 dollars per share.”

Trading in shares of Twitter were halted after the stock spiked on reports that Musk would proceed with his $44 billion (£38.5 billion) deal to buy the company earlier on Tuesday.

The symbol for Twitter appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Credit: AP

For a second time, Musk offered to buy the company valued at $54.20.

Shares jumped nearly 13% to $47.95 before trading stopped.

Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter, according to people familiar with the case.

Musk had been trying to back out of the deal for several months after signing on to buy the social media platform in April, with shareholders having already approved the sale.

The tech entrepreneur 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 was set to start in Delaware Chancery Court on October 17 - but it's unclear if it'll go ahead, if his new offer goes through.


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