eBay’s board of directors have given the green signal for the previously planned spinoff of its online payment unit PayPal, which will be listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market and commence trading on 20th July.
As per the spinoff plan, eBay stakeholders will receive one share of PayPal common stock for every share of eBay on 17th July.
The ecommerce giant said that the distribution remains subject to obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals, including that of the European Central Bank.
eBay CEO John Donahoe said: "As separate, independent companies, eBay, led by Devin Wenig, and PayPal, led by Dan Schulman, will each have a sharper focus and greater flexibility to pursue future success in their respective global commerce and payments markets.
"I am confident that eBay and PayPal each have the right leadership team, strategy, structure and operational discipline to create sustainable, long-term value for stockholders and deliver great opportunities and experiences for customers worldwide."
In 2002, eBay bought PayPal for nearly $1.5 bn in shares, and integrating the payment service to its own offerings.
The company announced the split last year after strategic review of the company’s future plans plan, reportedly triggered by the mounting pressure of activist investor Carl Icahn, who accused eBay for poor management and claimed that having PayPal tied to Ebay reduced the market value for both the companies.
PayPal has become one of the leading digital payment service provider and last year the company processed $235bn in payments of 165 million active customer accounts, and handled one billion mobile transactions.
