Business
EBay’s Breakup Plans May Open Door for e-Commerce M&A
eBay (AP Photo)
(Reuters) – EBay Inc’s plans to break up into three different companies could accommodate would-be suitors, signaling a potential merger fight after the breakup.
The company plans to spin off its payments division, PayPal, from its core marketplace division in the second half of the year, making two standalone publicly traded companies that some analysts say could be worth more than the combined entity.
On Wednesday, eBay added that it will sell or prepare a public offering of its eBay Enterprise unit, which the company bought for $2.4 billion roughly four years ago.
The announced moves are intended to give each business the ability to consider all their alternatives, including a sale, eBay Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe said.
