PayPal Holdings Inc. backed off a takeover of social-media company Pinterest Inc. after shareholders reacted negatively to what would have been a multibillion-dollar bet on e-commerce.
PayPal said Sunday that it was “not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time.” The deal talks, which were confirmed last week by The Wall Street Journal but not publicly acknowledged by either company, would have combined a payments giant with broad financial ambitions with an image-sharing site that has struggled to commercialize the affection of its users.
