Twitter takeover: Elon Musk buyout gets green light, deal to close at $54.20 per share

"The intention of the company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share," Twitter said in a tweet confirming the billionaire entrepreneur is apparently abandoning his legal battle to terminate the deal.

Elon Musk on Tuesday offered to complete his takeover of Twitter at the original agreed-upon price, just weeks before the commencement of a contentious court battle over his efforts to back out of the transaction.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the world's richest man stated that he wrote Twitter a letter promising to uphold the deal. The newest twist in the long-running issue comes before of a high-stakes trial in a bid to make Tesla CEO Elon Musk accountable to the pact he made in April. Activists are concerned that Musk's possible leadership of the social networking site would allow for more rude and misleading messages.

Early rumours of Musk's U-turn on Tuesday drove a jump in Twitter's share value, resulting in a trading halt, which was lifted following the regulatory filing. "We write to inform you that the Musk Parties plan to continue to deal close," said a copy of the letter to Twitter posted with the SEC.

Twitter confirmed to AFP that it received Musk's letter and that it plans to complete the purchase at the agreed-upon price of $54.20 per share. Musk's letter stipulated that the court suspend proceedings in the case against him. He was supposed to be questioned under oath by Twitter lawyers later this week.

A Delaware court agreed in July to expedite a trial on Twitter's complaints, which the company claimed were hindering its financial performance. According to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, Musk's apparent flip demonstrated that he knew "this $44 billion acquisition was going to be finalised one way or another."

According to the complaint, Musk made his unsolicited proposal to purchase Twitter without asking for estimates on spam or phoney accounts, and even sweetened his offer to the board by eliminating a diligence condition.