Pinterest drops, PayPal pops after the payments platform says it is no longer exploring acquisition of social media company
- Pinterest stock fell as much as 14% on Monday after PayPal said it is not exploring an acquisition of the social media company "at this time."
- PayPal jumped 6% on the news, but still hasn't recovered all the losses associated with the rumored merger.
- Reports surfaced last week that PayPal was exploring a more than $40 billion buyout of Pinterest.
A rumored merger between PayPal and Pinterest is no longer under consideration, and the two stocks are moving in opposite directions following the news.
"In response to market rumors regarding a potential acquisition of Pinterest by PayPal, PayPal stated that it is not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time," PayPal said in a statement on Sunday.
Pinterest fell as much as 15% on Monday, erasing all the gains it saw last week from news of deal talks, while PayPal surged as much as 6%. PayPal is still down about 6% from the $270 level it was trading at right before the rumored acquisition was reported.
A more than $40 billion merger between the two companies was reportedly under consideration as the payments platform looks to build the kind of super-app that's popular in emerging markets: one app that encompasses social media, e-commerce, and fintech capabilities, among other functions.
But investors were skeptical of the potential deal, as evidenced by PayPal's swift 11% decline after reports of the talks. And the steep decline in PayPal's stock likely hurt the chances for a merger, as the company would have used its stock in a takeover.
A merger between the two companies would have been a short-term lifeline for Pinterest, as a slow-down in digital ad spending due to recent privacy changes to Apple's iOS system dinged earnings results for Snapchat last week.
Those same privacy changes are expected to hurt results from other online advertising platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Koyfin