EBAY rumored to be interested in acquiring PYPL:
PayPal declines comment on possible eBay deal
PALO ALTO, Calif. April 15 (Reuters) - PayPal Inc <PYPL.O>, the popular Internet payment service, declined comment Monday on reports that the online auction site eBay <EBAY.O> may consider buying it.
News of the rumored deal was reported Monday on the financial cable television station CNBC, although PayPal has long been identified as a likely acquisition target by eBay.
PayPal, which went public in a celebrated IPO earlier this year, offers a service for transferring money over the Internet and many of its customers are the same people to buy and sell over eBay. Its cash transfer system is considered by many to be superior to eBay's own online payment service, called Billpoint.
EBay also declined to comment on the reports of a possible acquisition.
However, an eBay spokesman said the company was happy with the adoption rates of its own Billpoint payment service. EBay does not disclose the total number of people who use Billpoint, but says it is offered as a payment option on about 25 percent of all the auctions hosted on eBay.
Separately, PayPal announced on Monday that it would advance by a week the release of its first-quarter results, which will now be reported on Wednesday, April 17.
PayPal gave no reason for pushing the date up, although sources close to the company said it was not related to the eBay rumor. Rather they said PayPal simply completed its first quarter accounting early, and was ready to release the numbers
04/15/02 19:59 ET |
