Twitter has accepted billionaire Tesla owner Elon Musk’s offer to go ahead with purchasing the social media giant for $44bn (£38.4bn), following a months-long legal battle.

Trading in Twitter shares was halted as the stock soared by 13% following reports the deal was back on.

In a letter to Twitter, Mr Musk agreed to stick to the original terms and will pay $54.20 per share.

A filing said he’ll complete the deal provided he gets the debt financing he needs and if the Delaware Court of Chancery, where he was due to appear in less than two weeks, throws out the lawsuit.

The two parties were due in court later this month as the company attempted to hold Mr Musk to his original offer, made in April.

Dan Ives, analyst at investment firm Wedbush, said: “This is a clear sign that Musk recognised heading into Delaware Court that the chances of winning versus Twitter board was highly unlikely and this $44bn deal was going to be completed one way or another.”