The PayPal logo is seen on a smartphone in front of the same logo.
Photo: dado ruvic/Reuters
U.S. payments giant PayPal Holdings Inc. said it isn’t currently pursuing a deal for social-media platform Pinterest Inc., days after media reports that the companies were in early talks for a multibillion-dollar deal.
In a one-sentence statement dated Sunday on its website, PayPal said that “in response to market rumors regarding a potential acquisition of Pinterest by PayPal,” the company “is not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time.”
The Wall Street Journal and other media last week reported that the two California-based companies were in early stage talks for a deal, citing people familiar with the matter.
PayPal’s stock fell almost 12% in three days after the media reports. Shares of Pinterest, an online-sharing platform on which users share photos and links to recipes and home-decor ideas, closed 13% higher Wednesday, then shed half that gain in the final two days of the week.
A deal for Pinterest would be one of the biggest mergers of the year, and PayPal’s biggest-ever acquisition. Pinterest’s market capitalization stands at more than $37 billion.
Write to Ben Otto at [email protected]
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