eBay to Acquire Rent.com
San
Jose, Calif. and Santa Monica, Calif., December 16, 2004 -- eBay, the
World's Online Marketplace (Nasdaq: EBAY; www.ebay.com), today announced
that it has agreed to acquire privately held Rent.com, a leading
Internet listing website in the apartment and rental housing industry.
The acquisition will enable eBay to expand into a new segment of the
online real estate market while allowing Rent.com to continue to scale
its business with the resources and expertise of eBay.
"Rent.com has been extremely successful in the apartment rental space
online and is a great match for eBay," said Bill Cobb, president, eBay
North America. "Together we can strengthen both businesses and help
consumers get the most out of real estate online."
"The Rent.com business model is an excellent fit with eBay, a company we
have long admired," said Scott Ingraham, CEO of Rent.com. "We are
especially pleased that our customers will have the opportunity to
benefit from the power of eBay and its community of users."
Launched nationally in October, 2001 and based in Santa Monica,
California, Rent.com has grown rapidly to become the most visited
apartment listing website in the nation, according to comScore
MediaMetrix (November 2004). With Rent.com's transaction-based business
model, apartment owners and managers are able to list properties on the
website free of charge and pay success fees only for leases produced
through Rent.com. A profitable company, Rent.com expects revenues in
2004 to total more than $40 million.
eBay has agreed to acquire all outstanding securities of Rent.com for
total consideration of approximately $415 million plus acquisition
costs, net of Rent.com's cash on hand. The acquisition amount will be
paid with approximately $385 million in eBay common stock and $30
million in cash. eBay expects the acquisition to be slightly accretive
to full-year 2005 pro forma diluted earnings per share, though dilutive
to 2005 GAAP diluted earnings per share due to the amortization of
acquired assets. More information relating to the impact of the
acquisition on eBay's 2005 financial guidance will be provided upon the
closing of the transaction.
The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval and approval of
Rent.com's stockholders, is expected to close in the first quarter of
2005.
About Rent.com
Rent.com is the only
transaction-based Internet listing website in the apartment and rental
housing industry. Its unique business model has made it the number one
third-party producer of verified lease transactions in the nation online
and off. The Rent.com service is available to renters and property
owners and managers in most American cities including the nation's top
fifty metropolitan markets.
About eBay
eBay is The World's Online
Marketplace®. Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful platform for the
sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and
businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items across
thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade on a local,
national and international basis with customized sites in markets around
the world. Through an array of services, such as its payment solution
provider PayPal, eBay is enabling global e-commerce for an ever growing
online community.