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PayPal prepared to spend $45 billion to acquire Pinterest

Image Credit: Sagar Salva

PayPal may soon make a foray into social media and image sharing, as the San Jose-based company makes a move to purchase the internet's most popular digital pinboard company.

The company plan is to finance the acquisition by paying roughly $70 per share, a 26% premium on Pinterest's closing price on Tuesday. The deal would cost PayPal $45 billion.

News of the acquisition caused Pinterest's stock prices to jump over 13% earlier, forcing trading to be halted temporarily, according to Reuters

PayPal's shares were down 3.5% on Wednesday, though the company has seen exceptional growth since the start of the pandemic. In the last twelve months, PayPal's shares have increased in value by 36 percent.

PayPal also owns popular online payment service Venmo, and popular online coupon extension Honey.

In March, it was reported that PayPal would allow users to use their cryptocurrency holdings on the platform for payments at millions of its merchants across the globe. Customers can also purchase Bitcoin, Etherium, and Litecoin from PayPal.