By
Tolu Ajiboye
March 22nd, 2024
ICE has offered to buy the American multinational e-commerce corporation eBay at a staggering price of $30 billion. However, there have been no formal talks between the two firms yet.
The New York Stock Exchange proprietor ICE has offered to buy the American multinational e-Commerce corporation eBay and add $2 billion more than the initial set price by the company ($28 billion). The news came at a time when the eBay shares (EBAY INC) were struggling to break the resistance zone at $36 for the last month. It was a huge relief for the eBay investors who saw the shares move a big leap and break the downtrend that had started forming.
Although the news was a big relief, there are no formal talks that have been initiated between the two companies concerning the move by ICE. According to a news report by wall street journal, there are no guarantees that eBay will settle on the bid from ICE.
Apparently, the news was not all rosy for the ICE shares which saw a huge slump and stop out all the profits from the previous bull rally. At the time of news reporting, the shares were trading at $92.88 down from $102.5 per share.
eBay on the Broader Spectrum
eBay has been experiencing tough competition from similar e-commerce corporations like Amazon, and Walmart. Due to this, the corporation has been struggling to stay afloat in the market, therefore the management considering to sell it.
According to the news report from Wall Street Journal, ICE is mainly considering to acquire eBay’s marketplace and not the unit itself. The e-commerce company has been involved in a series of disposing their assets in order to make progress on the shareholders’ value.
In March 2019, eBay decided to sell its ticket marketplace, StubHub, after the investors push on demanding the company’s improvement. StubHub was sold to Viagogo for $4.05 Billion cash deal, making a healthy investment return for eBay which had acquired it for $310 million back in 2007.
According to one of the activist shareholder, starboard, the e-commerce business has not been putting proper measures to improve the shareholders’ investment value. With the company expected to give an update on its classified business in the course of the year, it has been observed that eBay has been shifting its focus to ads and payment systems.
What’s Coming Next for eBay and ICE?
With all these pressures put on the board management to review and act on the company’s welfare, analysts are looking forward to eBay talking with ICE on the sale. If the bid is accepted, the sale might see the failing ICE shares recover and push higher in the near future.
Until eBay confirms the move, investors and analysts will be eagerly waiting before making any decision. Analysts are predicting high volatility on both companies’ share value in the coming days, thus cautioning traders and investors to make objective decisions based on fundamentals.