Two sets of cases are pending before state courts in Delaware and California although it is unclear – now that state regulators have signed off on the merger – what effect, if any, the shareholder suits will have on the acquisition.
The acquisition of PayPal follows eBay’s failed effort to establish Billpoint as a serious competitor to the online payment system. As part of their acquisition of PayPal, eBay plan to shut Billpoint during the first half of 2003.
According to a mass e-mail sent to Billpoint users last week: “Billpoint’s functionality, fees and customer support will remain unchanged through the end of 2002. While there will be a number of changes regarding the appearance of Billpoint on the eBay site beginning in mid-October 2002, including modifications to Sell Your Item, Item Listing, Search and other eBay pages, you will still be able to use Billpoint to accept payments both on and off eBay through the end of 2002.”
In a separate announcement, eBay say they plan to follow their sale of Butterfields with the sale of another bricks-and-mortar element, Kruse International, the collector car auction company they bought to help launch automotive site eBay Motors two years ago.
eBay seal deal to acquire payPal
WITH the backing of 65 per cent of a PayPal shareholders vote, eBay have completed their acquisition of the leading online payments company. Despite the overwhelming approval of the merger, some shareholders did object to it, suing eBay and PayPal in an attempt to block the acquisition.
