- Pinterest’s stock jumped by about 12% on the news, trading at just above $62 by midday Wednesday
In what would be a blockbuster acquisition, PayPal Holdings Inc. is exploring an acquisition of social media company Pinterest Inc., people with knowledge of the matter said, Bloomberg News reports.
The publication said the San Jose, California-based PayPal “recently approached” Pinterest about a potential buyout.
Citing an anonymous source, Bloomberg said PayPal could pay around $70 a share, which would value Pinterest at about $39 billion.
Pinterest declined to comment on the report. PayPal had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.
Pinterest’s stock jumped by about 12% on the news, trading at just above $62 by midday Wednesday. That’s still down from a 52-week-high of $89.90.
The rumored purchase price would be in line with Pinterest’s current market cap of $40 billion. For its part, PayPal has a market cap of $308 billion.
Last month, PayPal announced an acquisition of Paidy, a Japanese buy now, pay later (BNPL) service platform, for approximately $2.7 billion (300 billion yen), mostly in cash, to enhance its business in Japan.
On October 14, Pinterest announced that co-founder Evan Sharp was exiting his full-time role with the company, where he had served as chief design & creative officer, in order to join Jony Ive at his new creative collective, LoveFrom.
Sharp has moved into an advisory role with Pinterest which will focus on company strategy, product, design, brand and culture. He will also continue to serve on Pinterest’s board of directors.