eBay tweaks deal after its stock dives
Online auctioneer will opt for an all-cash acquisition of Rent.com, rather than a cash-and-stock deal as previously planned.
Overall, eBay's shares have taken a beating since the deal was announced in mid-December. The stock hit a high of $118.42 a share on Dec. 31 but has fallen roughly 36 percent since then, closing at $75.59 on Monday.
The Rent.com deal originally called for eBay to pay only $30 million in cash and the remainder of the $415 million in stock.
The acquisition is still expected to close in the first quarter, and eBay said the buy is likely to wrap up by the end of this month.
eBay has been on a steady path of expanding beyond its main business of Internet auctions. The auctioneer has invested recently in Craigslist, a bare-bones classifieds site in 45 cities for people looking for almost anything, including apartments, dates and baseball tickets. The auctioneer has dabbled in letting customers sell music downloads. And eBay said Thursday that it will buy the assets of Kurant, which sells software for online stores.
Rent.com, which is privately held, matches landlords and tenants online and receives a payment from property owners when it leases a rental through its site.