Musk appears ready to finalize purchase of Twitter

FILE - Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, attends the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has proposed a peace plan for Ukraine that would involve holding repeat votes under the U.N. auspices in Russia-occupied regions, triggering a showdown with Ukrainian Twitter users who have rejected his proposals in a stream of furious comments. (Patrick Pleul/Pool via AP, File)

Elon Musk appears ready to close an acquisition deal with Twitter.

Trading of Twitter shares was briefly halted Tuesday after Bloomberg published a report that said Elon Musk will proceed with a deal to buy the company.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that Musk sent a letter to Twitter that said he will make good on his original deal to purchase the company for $54.20 a share. The letter was reportedly filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Twitter’s shares were up more than 12% on Tuesday, selling at $47.93 when trading was stopped. Shares were allowed to be traded later in the day and they continued to soar. The stock closed at $52 a share.

The billionaire had been trying to get out of the $44 billion deal, claiming the social media platform undercounted its fake and spam accounts.

Twitter claimed it provided Musk with all the necessary information.

The two sides were scheduled to go to court later this month to decide whether Musk could get out of the contract or have to buy the company.