SAN JOSE, Calif. and
GENEVA, Nov. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- eBay Inc.
(NASDAQ: EBAY) and viagogo today announced they have entered into a
definitive agreement for eBay to sell StubHub to viagogo for a
purchase price of $4.05 billion in
cash.
"We believe this transaction is a great outcome and maximizes
long-term value for eBay shareholders," said Scott Schenkel, interim chief executive officer
of eBay Inc. "Over the past several months, eBay's leadership team
and Board of Directors have been engaged in a thorough review of
our current strategies and portfolio, and we concluded that this
was the best path forward for both eBay and StubHub. We firmly
believe in the StubHub business and we are excited about its future
growth potential with viagogo as its owner."
viagogo is a leading worldwide ticket marketplace for live
sport, music and entertainment events, and StubHub is a trusted
ticket marketplace in the United
States. Both viagogo and StubHub provide fans with
transparency, choice and competitive prices for tickets and do so
in a trusted and secure environment with fan-protect guarantees.
Combined, these complementary marketplaces will sell hundreds of
thousands of tickets daily across more than 70 countries, giving
fans seamless access to a wider selection of inventory around the
world, while sellers, teams and artists will have the ability to
more effectively reach a broader global audience.
Eric Baker, viagogo's founder and
CEO, also co-founded StubHub while in business school, but left
before the business was sold to eBay for $310 million in 2007. "It has long been my wish
to unite the two companies. I am so proud of how StubHub has grown
over the years and excited about the possibilities for our shared
future," Baker said. "Buyers will have a wider choice of tickets,
and sellers will have a wider network of buyers. Bringing these two
companies together creates a win-win for fans - more choice and
better pricing."
"Bringing StubHub and viagogo together will allow us to drive
further expansion and innovation, and create a more competitive
offering for live event fans globally," said Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, president of StubHub.
"This provides a great opportunity to expand our business, pursue
new partnerships and execute our strategy. We expect a seamless
transition for all our employees, partners and customers, and we
are excited for what the future holds."
The sale is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of
2020, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing
conditions.
eBay regularly reviews its portfolio to ensure that its
investments and assets support the company's strategic direction
while adhering to a disciplined approach to value
creation.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is acting as financial advisor to
eBay. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
and Quinn Emanuel are acting as legal advisors to eBay. J.P.
Morgan is acting as sole financial advisor and sole underwriter of
the committed debt and preferred equity financings for viagogo.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Kirkland &
Ellis LLP are acting as legal advisors for viagogo.
About eBay: eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global
commerce leader including the Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds
platforms. Collectively, we connect millions of buyers and sellers
around the world, empowering people and creating opportunity for
all. Founded in 1995 in San Jose,
Calif., eBay is one of the world's most vibrant marketplaces
for discovering great value and unique selection. In 2018, eBay
enabled $95 billion of gross
merchandise volume. For more information about the company and its
global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.
About StubHub: At StubHub, our mission is to bring the
joy of live to fans globally. As the world's most trusted ticket
marketplace spanning 44 countries, we enable fans to buy and sell
tickets to tens of thousands of events, whenever and wherever fans
want to be. Backed by award-winning customer care, StubHub's
FanProtect™ Guarantee means every ticket is guaranteed valid or
you'll receive a replacement ticket of equal or better value, or
your money back. Our business partners include more than 130
properties globally across the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, WWE,
NCAA, Matchroom Boxing, plus Paciolan, Tessitura and Roundabout
Theatre Company. StubHub provides the total end-to-end event going
experience throughout the world. For more information on StubHub,
visit StubHub.com or follow @StubHub on Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram or LinkedIn.
About viagogo: viagogo was built with the aim of
providing ticket buyers with the widest possible choice of tickets
to events across the world and to help ticket sellers reach a
global audience. Since its inception in 2006, viagogo has
grown to be an important option for fans in Europe, Asia,
Australia and Latin America, and has partnered with many of
the world's leading brands in sports and entertainment. viagogo now
serves customers in over 70 countries and processes millions of
transactions annually.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements herein are "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. Such forward-looking statements are often identified by
words such as "anticipate," "approximate," "believe," "commit,"
"continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "hope," "intend," "may,"
"outlook," "plan," "project," "potential," "should," "would,"
"will" and other similar words or expressions. Such forward-looking
statements reflect eBay's current expectations or beliefs
concerning future events and actual events may differ materially
from historical results or current expectations. The reader is
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance and are
subject to a number of uncertainties, risks, assumptions and other
factors, many of which are outside the control of eBay. The
forward-looking statements in this document address a variety of
subjects including, for example, the closing of the proposed
transaction and the potential benefits of the proposed transaction.
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to
differ materially from those described in these forward-looking
statements: the possibility that regulatory and other approvals and
conditions to the proposed transaction are not received or
satisfied on a timely basis or at all; the possibility that eBay
may not fully realize the projected benefits of the proposed
transaction; changes in the anticipated timing for closing the
proposed transaction; business disruption during the pendency of or
following the proposed transaction; diversion of management time on
transaction-related issues; the reaction of customers and other
persons to the proposed transaction; and other events that could
adversely impact the completion of the proposed transaction,
including industry or economic conditions outside of our control.
In addition, actual results are subject to other risks and
uncertainties that relate more broadly to eBay's overall business,
including those more fully described in eBay's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December
31, 2018 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The
forward-looking statements in this document speak only as of this
date. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any
forward-looking statement, except as required by law.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/viagogo-acquires-stubhub-from-ebay-for-4-05-billion-300964581.html
SOURCE eBay Inc.