EBay Inc. (EBAY) agreed to settle lawsuits over its planned
acquisition of GSI Commerce Inc. (GSIC) by making an additional
payment to GSI shareholders and selling some assets to GSI Chief
Executive Michael Rubin.
EBay agreed in March to buy e-commerce company GSI for $2.4
billion in cash and debt in a move that would extend the Internet
auction pioneer's reach and make it a bigger rival to Amazon.com
Inc. (AMZN).
In addition to the $29.25-a-share merger price, GSI shareholders
will receive a settlement payment of 33 cents a share when the deal
closes, expected on Friday.
EBay also agreed to sell GSI's licensed sports merchandise
business and a 70% stake in ShopRunner and Rue La La to a newly
formed holding company led by GSI founder and CEO Rubin.
The deal comes as eBay continues a multi-year effort to overhaul
its online marketplace business, which has underperformed overall
growth in Internet commerce, by moving away from auctions and
making the site more attractive to larger merchants. In the
meantime, the company's PayPal payments unit has been posting
strong results.
GSI provides fulfillment, marketing services, analytics tools
and other technology that helps about 180 big brand retailers run
their ecommerce stores.
Shares of eBay were trading 19 cents higher at $30.15 while GSI
shares were down a penny at $1.49.
-By Melodie Warner, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2283;
melodie.warner@dowjones.com