With an eye on becoming a super app, PayPal in talks to buy social media app Pinterest
- PayPal is scouting a $45 billion acquisition of Pinterest, one of the biggest social media apps.
- It's in line with the payments company’s plans of becoming a super app by combining an e-commerce platform with financial products
PayPal is reportedly looking to secure the biggest tech deal of the year and buy social media app Pinterest in a $45 billion deal first reported by Bloomberg.
Bloomberg said the companies are discussing an offering of $70 a share for the social media app, a 1.26x multiple on the closing price on Tuesday before the deal was reported.
This move would represent PayPal’s entry in the advertising business, aiming to bring the payments company closer to being a “super app” – like China’s WeChat or Alipay – offering users a digital e-commerce and finance ecosystem.
“Previously disparate parts of the physical world are coming together in the digital world, like payments, basic consumer financial services, shopping tool sets, deals, offers, wish lists,” said PayPal CEO Daniel Schulman at an investment conference last month.
The transaction would also be PayPal’s biggest acquisition to date, after it bought online coupon startup HoneyScience for $4 billion in 2019.
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