Confirming rumors last night that eBay was close to selling off its enterprise division to an unnamed buyer, the company confirmed this morning that it has sold the division to a Permira-led consortium for $925 million. This move precedes the company’s highly-anticipated separation from PayPal as eBay continues to streamline its operations and put more focus on things like its marketplace business, which hasn’t been doing very well.
E-commerce company eBay Inc said it was selling its enterprise business to a consortium led by private equity firm Permira for $925 million, as it streamlines its operations ahead of the separation from PayPal Holdings Inc. Shares of eBay, which also announced an additional $1 billion share buyback program, were up 3 percent at $65.37 in premarket trading. The deal leaves eBay with its slow-growing marketplace business, which faces stiff competition from rivals such as Amazon.com Inc. EBay’s enterprise business, formerly known as GSI Commerce, helps retailers around the world beef up their online presence and e-commerce capabilities. The sale was announced alongside eBay’s second-quarter results, where it reported a 7 percent jump in net revenue, boosted by higher demand in the PayPal business it plans to spin off on Friday. PayPal is slated to begin trading separately on the Nasdaq on July 20, creating a new company that some analysts say will be worth $40 billion.
