PayPal says it is not pursuing acquisition of Pinterest

[BENGALURU] PayPal is not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time, the payments company said on Sunday, responding to media reports that it was in talks to buy the digital pinboard site for as much as US$45 billion.

Pinterest did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside of business hours.

Bloomberg News first reported on the companies' talks last week that was later confirmed by Reuters. A source at that time told Reuters that PayPal had offered US$70 per share, mostly in stock, for Pinterest.

At that price, a deal would have been the biggest acquisition of a social media company, surpassing Microsoft's US$26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn in 2016.

PayPal did not provide additional details in its statement.

It also did not respond to a request for comment seeking details about possible talks with Pinterest.

PayPal shares are down about 11.5 per cent since the talks emerged, while Pinterest is up about 4.5 per cent.

REUTERS