Comments on: Is eBay Ready To Make A Big Move?

By: Alan Richardson

Alan Richardson — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:37:42 +0000

With an extended credtit of $1 billion and a further $1 billion option then something major sounds like an under estimation to me. What could ebay be upto? Time will tell I suppose.I can't help but think back to Google and the YouTube acquisition though.

By: Howard Lindzon » What is Ebay Up to...Buying Facebook or Yahoo?

Howard Lindzon » What is Ebay Up to...Buying Facebook or Yahoo? — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:13:54 +0000

[...] Nice work as usual by Om Malik . [...]

By: Julian

Julian — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 01:08:54 +0000

I hear they want to buy Shibsted's online classifieds business.

By: Jacomo

Jacomo — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:07:10 +0000

They might be looking into a play (with partners)for a Broadband Network by participating in the 700Mhz Auction. WOuld be nice to have access to and control of the Last Mile.

By: Readings: 2007-08-06 « Kempton’s blog

Readings: 2007-08-06 « Kempton’s blog — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:57:33 +0000

[...] What is $1, $2, or even $3 billion amongst friends? Is eBay ready to buy something big? [...]

By: Hello

Hello — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:55:58 +0000

I think there could be some kind of deal with IAC Interactive, wherein EBAY buys TicketMaster from them.

By: David Mackey

David Mackey — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 02:43:59 +0000

No idea. But with innovative purchases like StumbleUpon and Skype, here's hoping its good.

By: Top Posts « WordPress.com

Top Posts « WordPress.com — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:58:54 +0000

[...] Is eBay Ready To Make A Big Move? [qi:013] An interesting tidbit about eBay: last week, the auction giant boosted its existing credit facility from $1 […] [...]

By: will

will — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:26:07 +0000

here is the thing. Borrowing money and repurchasing stock is one way to prop up the stock pricing. Remember the CFO is from EDS, an industry where debt is used extensively to create shareholder value. Leveverage also keeps crazy LBO shops away.

By: Randy Smythe

Randy Smythe — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:50:10 +0000

Andrew, I agree with the idea of borrowing money when you don't need it but they already had $1B available that would buy a lot of StumbleUpons. Now they can borrow up to $3B. The stock is up 3.4% as of this post so my guess is the market thinks something big is happening also. I think so also.

By: Alex Goldman

Alex Goldman — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:24:54 +0000

I agree with Andrew, and I'd go farther with that thought. One of the frustrations of spring 2002 for those in management (i.e. not me) was not having the cash to make acquisitions. I think that eBay expects to see some cheap assets available if the market crashes. Cheap assets could be anything from companies with valuable brand names like Yahoo! to cheap data centers you've never heard of.

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:15:50 +0000

Andrew,

Good points, though I think there might be something to this whole talk about acquisition.

By: Andrew Schmitt

Andrew Schmitt — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:10:10 +0000

More likely just getting money while there is still some to get. You borrow money when you don't need it. Looks like they just made it under the wire.

By: Randy Smythe

Randy Smythe — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:37:58 +0000

Could it be Facebook? Meg mentioned "Social Commerce" as the new eBay mantra at eBay Live. Facebook seems really pricey to me but may make sense for the company.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:13:47 +0000

A dividend is so unlikely as to be not worth mentioning.

They've spent billions over the last few years propping up their stock -- it hasn't worked.

A big acquisition like Yahoo is conceivable, I guess. I strongly suspect they're going to use the dough to go after a bunch of smaller fish ranging in size from StumbleUpon to Skype.

At some point soon they're going to need to articulate a vision for all this and state categorically that auctions and online commerce are just one element of what they do in the future -- otherwise the market will continue to punish them when they make money as an internet conglomerate (via Skype, PayPal etc.) while the auction market in the US and EU remains saturated.

By: Robert Dewey

Robert Dewey — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:31:38 +0000

...finally making the leap and taking over Craigslist?

Their acquisitions are very hard to predict - one acquisition is about entering into the communication sector, while another acquisition is about entrenching themselves further into the online marketplace.

It's really hard to say what they are up to.