New York Stock Exchange owner reportedly makes an offer to acquire eBay

Intercontinental Exchange reported offer could value eBay at as much as $30bn - but will offload the classifieds business

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of New York Stock Exchange, has approached internet firm eBay regarding a possible takeover.

The reported offer could value eBay at as much as $30 billion, although that would represent only a small premium on its current market capitalisation of around $28 billion.

However, the two companies are not in formal talks currently, and the deal isn't guaranteed, according to the Wall Street Journal.

ICE is interested in buying eBay's online marketplace business, rather than its classified business, which eBay has been considering selling. Analysts had earlier said that the classified unit, which includes Gumtree, could be sold for about $10 billion.

Activist hedge fund Starboard Value has ratcheted up pressure on eBay to sell its classifieds business.

In a letter to the eBay management and board on Tuesday, Starboard claimed that eBay was "deeply undervalued", and that the firm should sell its Classifieds unit to improve shareholder value.

Starboard also said that eBay had not done enough in the 12 months since agreeing to review its classifieds business. It argued that separating the classifieds business would enable the company to focus on growing the marketplace business.

"In order to achieve the optimal outcome, we believe classifieds must be separated, and a more comprehensive and aggressive operating plan must be put in place to drive profitable growth in the core marketplace business," wrote Peter Feld, Starboard managing member, in the letter.

Starboard advised eBay to "return to its roots in targeting its historical core buyer universe of 'self-expressionists and treasure hunters', who are seeking unique, hard-to-find, or value-oriented items".

Responding to Starboard's arguments, eBay said that it was ready to consider the "letter and perspectives" and review future opportunities for "growth and value creation". The company also said that it had already taken a number of steps, including new board appointments, to improve its performance.

Starboard, which first bought into eBay in 2018, owns more than one per cent of the company. It was also instrumental in persuading eBay to sell its ticket-seller StubHub in November last year.

StubHub was sold to Viagogo Entertainment at a price of $4.05 billion.

It has also committed to phasing out the use of PayPal, the online payments service co-founded by Elon Musk, which it founded in 2002 and sold 12 years later.