Bloomberg reported Elon Musk had a change of heart and was now willing to buy Twitter at the $54.20 per share he originally offered, in what could be an attempt to avoid a court battle later this month.

The news outlet stated Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter. CNBC reported a deal could be in place by 7 October.

Twitter’s share price increased by about 18 per cent after Bloomberg reported Musk’s decision. The stock was halted after the report.

A trial was scheduled to start 17 October to decide if Musk must honour the original takeover deal.

Musk made his $44 billion offer to buy Twitter in April, but attempted to walk away in July by claiming the social media company under-reported bots.

Twitter sued Musk to force him to complete the deal, which led to him counter suing the social media company.

More expensive
Radio Free Mobile analyst Richard Windsor noted the deal will now be much more difficult and expensive for Musk than it would have been had he put it together in April.

“This is because interest rates are materially higher now than they were in April and shares which could be used as collateral or as a source of capital have lost 20 per cent or more of their value,” he wrote.

“Furthermore, all of those contributing financing will be aware that the shares are ludicrously overvalued which, combined with the shortage of liquidity, means that they will be demanding a high price for their dollars.”