eBay Sells Enterprise Unit to Permira Consortium

E-commerce company eBay said it was selling its enterprise business to a consortium led by private equity firm Permira for $925 million (roughly Rs. 5,870 crores), as it streamlines its operations ahead of the separation from PayPal.

Shares of eBay, which also announced an additional $1 billion (roughly Rs. 6,348crores) share buyback program, were up 3 percent at $65.37 (roughly Rs. 4,150) in premarket trading.

The deal leaves eBay with its slow-growing marketplace business, which faces stiff competition from rivals such as Amazon.com.

eBay's enterprise business, formerly known as GSI Commerce, helps retailers around the world beef up their online presence and e-commerce capabilities.

The sale was announced alongside eBay's second-quarter results, where it reported a 7 percent jump in net revenue, boosted by higher demand in the PayPal business it plans to spin off on Friday.

PayPal is slated to begin trading separately on the Nasdaq on July 20, creating a new company that some analysts say will be worth $40 billion (roughly Rs. 2,53,960 crores).

eBay said in January that it would explore a sale or public offering of the enterprise business, which did not fit neatly with its PayPal or marketplace divisions.

GSI Commerce was acquired by eBay for $2.4 billion (roughly Rs. 15,235 crores) in 2011. It has lost customers and seen sluggish growth in the past few years with clients moving their online operations in-house.

Based on the expected sales proceeds, the company recorded an impairment of goodwill of about $786 million (roughly Rs. 4,989 crores). It said it expected the deal to close later this year.

Excluding items, eBay earned 76 cents per share in the quarter.

Net income fell to $83 million (roughly Rs. 526 crores), or 7 cents per share, for the second quarter ended June 30, from $676 million (roughly Rs. 4,291 crores), or 53 cents per share, a year earlier.

Net revenue rose to $4.38 billion (roughly Rs. 27,806 crores) from $4.10 billion (roughly Rs. 26,025 crores).

© Thomson Reuters 2015