NYSE Owner Intercontinental Exchange Makes Takeover Offer for eBay A deal could value the online marketplace at more than $30 billion Updated Feb. 4, 2020 10:02 pm ET The owner of the New York Stock Exchange has made a takeover offer for eBay Inc. that could value the sprawling online marketplace at more than $30 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Intercontinental Exchange Inc., known as ICE, has approached eBay in the past and did so again recently, the people said. The companies aren’t currently in formal talks, and there is no guarantee eBay would agree to a deal. Should there be one, it would be big, given eBay’s market value of more than $28 billion and the premium ICE would likely have to pay. ICE issued a statement late Tuesday confirming its interest in a deal after The Wall Street Journal reported on it earlier in the day and the company’s shares sank. “ICE approached eBay to explore a range of potential opportunities that might create value for the shareholders of both companies,” it said. “EBay has not engaged in a meaningful way.” It added: “Over ICE’s 20-year history, the company’s track record of creating shareholder value, both through organic growth and acquisitions, speaks for itself. ICE does look to explore potential opportunities that it expects will deliver enhanced shareholder value, and will continue to do so in the future.” ICE is primarily interested in owning eBay’s core marketplace business, the people said, and not its classified unit, which eBay has been considering selling. The classified unit could fetch about $10 billion in a sale, people familiar with the matter have said. ICE may see an opening to apply its technological expertise connecting buyers and sellers to eBay’s core e-commerce site, covering everything from electronics to collectibles. Stock-price performanceeBaySource: FactSetAs of Feb. 4, 3:55 p.m. ET Jan. 31Feb. 3Feb. 4333435363738$39 Buying eBay would be a surprising strategic move for ICE, and its shareholders didn’t welcome the news. ICE closed down 7.5% while eBay’s stock soared, closing up 8.8%. EBay was a pioneer in e-commerce but has struggled to keep up with competitors such as Amazon.com Inc. The company has sought to distance itself from its reputation as an online auction house—as opposed to an electronic marketplace—as online auctions have fallen out of vogue. As the luster it enjoyed in the dot-com era has worn off, eBay has attracted the attention of multiple activist investors in recent years including Carl Icahn, who pushed for its 2015 spinoff of the payment platform PayPal Holdings Inc. About a year ago, the activist hedge funds Elliott Management Corp. and Starboard Value LP urged eBay to consider selling both its StubHub ticketing and classified-ads businesses. EBay later struck settlement deals handing the funds board representation and late last year to sell StubHub to Geneva-based Viagogo Entertainment Inc. for $4.05 billion. The company has been without a permanent chief executive since Devin Wenig left in September, citing clashes with the board. Unfilled executive ranks are often seen as opportunities for suitors to pounce. “In the past few weeks it became clear that I was not on the same page as my new board,” Mr. Wenig tweeted from his personal account following his resignation. “Whenever that happens, its best for everyone to turn that page over.” EBay reported last week a declining profit in its latest quarter and gave a weaker-than-expected first-quarter revenue outlook. Its shares lost 4.5% the following day and closed Monday at $34.39. On its earnings call, when asked by an analyst if eBay’s core business is part of the company’s strategic review, interim Chief Financial Officer Andrew Cring said, “Everything is part of it.” On Tuesday, Starboard published another letter to eBay management, saying the company hasn’t made enough progress and called on it to commit to a separation of its classifieds business. ICE is best known for operating the NYSE as well as futures exchanges around the world. Chief Executive Jeffrey Sprecher founded the company in 2000 and has turned it into a global exchange empire by acquiring stock and futures markets including the London-based International Petroleum Exchange in 2001 and the Chicago Stock Exchange in 2018. ICE also runs a number of financial-data businesses and clearinghouses for derivatives trades. Acquiring eBay would be an unusual move for Atlanta-based ICE, which in its 20-year history has largely stuck to running marketplaces for financial instruments such as stocks and derivatives, rather than the sorts of consumer goods sold on San Jose, Calif.-based eBay’s platform. Still, ICE has a history of buying underperforming trading platforms and making them more profitable. Since closing its acquisition of the NYSE in 2013, it has slashed the Big Board’s expenses, revamped its outdated trading systems and spent tens of millions of dollars on renovating the exchange’s historic building in Manhattan to make it a splashier place to stage initial public offerings. ICE’s interest in eBay comes as the traditional way that exchange groups have grown—through cross-border takeovers of rival market operators—has become tougher because of the increasing consolidation of the business and regulatory obstacles. In 2016, ICE explored an offer for London Stock Exchange Group PLC, but retreated, allowing Deutsche Börse AG to pursue a bid for the LSE that was ultimately scuttled by European Union regulators. In 2017, ICE was forced to unwind its acquisition of Trayport, a European energy-trading platform, after opposition from U.K. antitrust authorities. —Alexander Osipovich contributed to this article.
Instead of spending all that money on something that has no relevance on their business , maybe they should lower the exchange fee for the traders. Petition time!
guys wake up. 4 years ago i created this thread 'are we gonna run out of shares'... we are now. too much cash out there.... what asset is still yielding anything equity. and techs are the only game in town. why don't people get it... there are no holes in this theory.... people are just in denial because they are empty handed. how many times do i have to ask people to mortgage the house, RIGHT NOW! this is the time for you to get out of that dead end office job, or that shitty gig you dig ditches on the side of the highway all day long... this is the time to get into the upper class. call your bank tomorrow first thing!! mortgage the house the car the wife the kids.... go all in! sp500 have to get down to 2% earning yield of 50 p/e for the whole thing to make sense right now, which means an easy double for the s&p and an easy triple for the qqq. aapl easy 1000 amzn easy 5000 qqq easy 600. how many times do i have to beg you... please, take the free virgins. for the name of jesus.
They have all the exchange licenses - to create an individual investor - trade everything marketplace. When the had Paypal that could have become the clearing arm.
%% WELL nothing is quite like an auction buy + rocket buy past 50 dma LOL. 1st+ last quarter tends to be a good time to buy tech stocks/ETFs; never though about buyin' the whole company LOL...............................................................................................
ebay is a real exchange. while the other is 'speculative' exchange and hedging exchange. the exchange in trading stocks is BS..it's rigged .and manipulated...shill bidding and all that stuff. it's same as the OTC markets. total scam like the bitcoin scam market fake market.
Intercontinental Exchange says it explored deal with eBay Greg Roumeliotis, Svea Herbst-Bayliss 4 MIN READ (Reuters) - Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said on Tuesday it had approached e-commerce company eBay Inc to explore “a range of potential opportunities”. The German headquarters of online marketplace eBay is pictured at Europarc Dreilinden business park south of Berlin in Kleinmachnow, Germany, August 6, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch The statement came after people familiar with the matter said ICE discussed a potential takeover of eBay. The acquisition would exceed $30 billion and represent a substantial departure from ICE’s focus on financial markets. The move would call on ICE’s technological expertise in running markets to extract efficiencies from eBay’s marketplace platform, which connects buyers and sellers of goods around the world. ICE said in its statement that “eBay has not engaged in a meaningful way”, and as a result, it was not in negotiations regarding the sale of all or part of eBay. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the deal discussions, said ICE is not interested in eBay’s classified ad unit, which eBay has been considering selling. EBay declined to comment. EBay’s board issued a statement on Wednesday morning saying it is “aligned and open to all value-enhancing alternatives.” EBay’s shares ended trading 8.7% firmer at $37.41 on Tuesday following the news, giving it a market value of $30.4 billion. ICE shares fell 7.5% to $92.59, giving the company a market value of $51.6 billion, as investors fretted a deal could be dilutive for the stock exchange operator. ICE, which also operates futures exchanges and clearing-houses, has faced pressure from U.S. regulators to freeze or reduce the fees it charges to operate financial markets, spurring it to diversify its business. ICE’s approach rekindles debate among investors over whether eBay should be moving faster to shed its classifieds business, which advertises products and services for sale off the eBay marketplace. Earlier on Tuesday, activist shareholder Starboard Value LP once again called on eBay Inc to sell off its classifieds business, arguing the company has not made enough progress to improve shareholder value. “To achieve the optimal outcome, we believe Classifieds must be separated, and a more comprehensive and aggressive operating plan must be put in place to drive profitable growth in the core Marketplace business,” Starboard said in a letter to eBay’s board. The San Jose, California-based e-commerce firm said it would “review Starboard’s letter and perspectives.” EBay has been shifting focus to its advertising and payments businesses amid stiff competition in its marketplace business from Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc. The company faced pressure last year not only from Starboard but also from hedge fund Elliott Management. In a settlement, eBay offered a board seat to Elliott’s Jesse Cohn and to Matt Murphy, president and CEO of Marvell Technology, which was backed by Starboard. EBay also agreed in March to conduct a strategic review of its business, and in November agreed to sell StubHub for $4.05 billion in cash. The company is expected to provide an update this year on its classifieds business, which Elliott valued at between $8 billion and $12 billion.
cause they are in the same 'industry' they are both 'marketplaces' in theory. trading volume is in decline in the 'exchanges' as capital is cosolidated in fewer firms. and trading larger. and less trading the larger your fund. daytrading is not feasible for firms or anyone with over 10 million accountr. the more capital you manage, trading or short term trading is not feasible and waste of time and capital. you are the market. these exchanges make money on trading fees no value of shares. so high valuations they don't make money on it like ebay. who gets a percentage of value traded.