PayPal Can Buy Pinterest for $45 Billion, Biggest Social Network Acquisition

A Paypal holdings made a billion-dollar offer to buy the social network Pinterest. According to information released by the agency Reuters, the payments giant offered US $ 45 billion through the imaging platform. If completed, this will become the largest acquisition by a social media company, surpassing the $26,2 billion purchase of LinkedIn from ecosystem, which took place in 2016.

The potential deal comes at a troubled time for Pinterest. The company announced last week that co-founder Evan Sharp, who oversees the design and product teams, is stepping down. The social network is also facing a series of allegations of discrimination against female employees.

Rumors surrounding the purchase by PayPal sent Pinterest's stock price up 13% on Wednesday, taking the company's value to $20 billion. PayPal shares fell by nearly 40%. The company has a market capitalization of $5 billion.

Change of scenery boosted platform

Officially launched in 2010 by Ben Silbermann, the Pinterest is a photo-sharing social network that allows users to “pin” posts such as cooking recipes or decorating ideas and tattoos. You can organize these images into folders and share them with others. Currently, the platform has its revenue from ads from companies that advertise their services through promoted posts.

In recent years, the platform has been used by several professionals, such as designers, architects, bakers and decorators, especially after the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. The scenario allowed Pinterest to become a true channel of social commerce, where generated content can be easily converted into sales.

Brazil is currently among the ten largest markets and, for this reason, national companies such as O boticario, eudora, Itaú e Bauducco recently closed partnerships with the platform. Still in the country, other brands also surrendered to Pinterest, such as Samsung, Mobly e westwing.

If the purchase is confirmed, PayPal would have a huge market at its disposal, taking advantage of the 380 million active users of the social network and all the sales potential it offers today. Despite the rumors, neither company has commented on the matter so far.

See also:

Not familiar with Pinterest? meet the complete guide created by Showmetech to explore the social network.

Source: Reuters