eBay just became an even stronger player when it comes to online payments and classifieds. The company has announced two acquisitions today: the first one is U.S.-based online payments business Bill Me Later for approximately $820 million in cash and approximately $125 million in outstanding options.
The second acquisition is Denmark’s leading online classifieds site dba.dk, as well as vehicles site bilbasen.dk for approximately $390 million in cash.
Bill Me Later, as explained by eBay’s president and CEO John Donahoe, is complementary to PayPal. “Together, PayPal and Bill Me Later will make online payments safer, easier and more convenient than ever,” he says. DBA, on the other hand, is another corner of the world conquered as far as classifieds go. “We are the global leader in classifieds with top positions in Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, and sites in more than 1,000 cities across 20 countries. The acquisition of dba.dk and bilbasen.dk gives us technology and expertise we can leverage across our classifieds portfolio to create better customer experiences,” said Donahoe.
Despite obviously not being short with money, eBay will cut its workforce by approx. 10 percent, which translates to about 1,000 employees and several hundred temporary workers. As they say, this reduction will “simplify and streamline eBay’s organization, improve the company’s cost structure and strengthen the overall competitiveness of the company’s existing businesses.” I bet it’s great consolation to the folks that are about to be laid off.
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