SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - EBay Inc. did a little shopping of its own on Monday, saying it would pay $1.34 billion for online payments site Bill Me Later and two Danish classified ad Web sites.
Separately, eBay said it would cut 10 percent of its work force, or 1,000 jobs.
Ebay said it has signed an agreement to buy Bill Me Later for $820 million in cash and $125 million in options in a deal it expects to close by the end of the year. Ebay also said it has bought Danish classifieds site dba.dk and vehicles site bilbasen.dk for $390 million in cash.
EBay already owns online payment firm PayPal, but said Bill Me Later would add deferred payments and promotional financing services. It said PayPal would benefit by gaining Bill Me Later's customer base of about 1,000 Web sites and millions of shoppers.
"PayPal and Bill Me Later belong together," said eBay President and Chief Executive John Donahoe in statement. "We now have a powerful combination of the two leading, complementary online payment products, each with proven benefits for consumers and online merchants."
The company said PayPal President Scott Thompson will also run Bill Me Later.
PayPal, which eBay bought in 2002, has grown steadily. Last year it accounted for $1.9 billion in revenue, 25 percent of eBay's total. PayPal allows buyers to send money to sellers without waiting for a check to clear the bank.
Bill Me Later, which was founded in 2000, allows online retailers to offer credit. EBay said Bill Me Later has "sophisticated underwriting techniques" and tells shoppers within seconds if they're approved for credit, without detailed application forms.
EBay also said on Monday it will cut about 1,000 employees, as well as get rid of several hundred temporary workers and reduce open positions.
EBay says the reductions are intended to streamline its organization. EBay says it expects restructuring charges of about $70 million to $80 million, mostly in the fourth quarter.
EBay also said it expects its third-quarter earnings to top its previously issued guidance of 30 cents to 32 cents per share, although revenue will be at the low end of its projected range of $2.1 billion to $2.15 billion.
Ebay is scheduled to announce its third-quarter results on Oct. 15. |