EBay, bowing to pressure, agrees to hive off PayPal

[NEW YORK] EBay Inc, the world's biggest online marketplace, said it will split off its payments arm PayPal, finally bowing to pressure from activist shareholder Carl Icahn after nine months.

EBay and PayPal will become independent companies in 2015, subject to customary conditions, the San Jose, California-based company said in a statement.

Chief executive officer John Donahoe, who said in March that a full separation was "not a good idea", won't have an executive management role in the businesses.