I’ve been not paying much attention to the news today — except for the stock market losses — but saw that eBay had made two acquisitions and announced that it would cut 10% of its workforce.
eBay Inc. today announced two acquisitions that significantly extend the company’s leadership position in online payments and classifieds. In payments, the company is acquiring the U.S.-based online payments business Bill Me Later® for approximately $820 million in cash and approximately $125 million in outstanding options. In classifieds, the company has acquired Denmark’s leading online classifieds site dba.dk and vehicles site bilbasen.dk for approximately $390 million in cash.
The Bill Me Later buy helps bolster it’s dominance in online payments (PayPal). And the Denmark classifieds acquisition is consistent with what eBay said several weeks ago it would be doing:
Jacob Aqraou, general manager of eBay’s global classified business, said he expects the company will take over a “fair” number of companies in the next six months or so . . . He said eBay’s strategy was to target classified-ad sites that have leading positions in geographies and industry segments in which eBay doesn’t currently compete . . . Mr. Aqraou pointed to Eastern Europe and Scandinavia as regional priorities, adding that the first in a series of acquisitions could be announced within the next several weeks.
Given the worsening economy, will eBay continue to make acquisitions as it promised or will it scale back? Of course a recession is a great time to buy if you have the cash.
