Some of eBay’s more activist shareholders (Elliot Management and Starboard Value LP) have long been pushing to sell off non-core business units. The goal is to streamline operations and focus more on its Marketplace.
Paypal, eBay’s main payment provider was purchased in 2003. In 2015, it was spun into a separate public company.
In November, 2019, eBay announced the sale of its ticket marketplace StubHub to Swiss ticket reseller viagogo. The deal combined StubHub with viagogo for a cash price of $4.05 billion, closing in the first quarter of 2020.
Ebay’s classifieds division operates primarily outside the U.S., in Canada, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Mexico. Adevinta’s purchase allows them to expand their portfolio of peer-to-peer e-commerce platforms globally. And it allows eBay to slim down and concentrate on the marketplace business.
Additionally, the sale provided by the eBay-Adevinta partnership is expected to create an estimated annual synergies of $150 to $185 million within the next three years.
