Will PayPal manage to acquire Pinterest?

California-based PayPal has recently struck an interest in acquiring the social media platform Pinterest. PayPal is looking to acquire Pinterest, which is currently being valued at $45bn with their shares trading at $70 a piece.

Pinterest is a platform that offers a variety of tools, including scrapbooking and visual searches. The platform allows customers to save, group, and collect images they want to refer back to. Pinterest was booming during the pandemic, with lots of users using it as a platform to save items they wanted to buy or recreate.

Pinterest users wanted to buy the pieces they would see online, which created a new opportunity for the social media giant. The company introduced new tools to establish themselves in e-commerce by making their ‘pins’ shoppable. This made Pinterest users very happy as they could now buy their favorite pins immediately from the platform instead of looking around for them online.

PayPal has offered to buy Pinterest in a deal valued at about $45 billion, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. If a deal were to be completed, it would be one of the largest consumer internet purchases in recent history. https://t.co/x0QaeQR029

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 20, 2021

Why is PayPal interested in acquiring Pinterest?

Pinterest’s co-founder, Evan Sharp, recently announced he would be stepping down from the social media company. Evan Sharp oversaw the design and production teams.

Pinterest has recently been accused of discrimination by former employees claiming that there was discrimination against female workers in the company.

However, due to Pinterest’s recent company changes and former employee accusations, PayPal is looking to invest into the social media platform and acquire them as a new project. Buying Pinterest could open many more doors for PayPal and could attract a new pool of customers to use their services as well.

Pinterest shares reached an all-time high in February while most of the world was still experiencing lockdowns due to Covid-19. Even though Pinterest’s shares did drop for a while after that, they have recently risen by 13% on NYSE in the past week. The rise is undoubtedly due to the potential acquisition.

Pinterest became a public company in 2019 with an initial public offering of $10bn, debuting on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol PINS.

What’s on the cards for PayPal?

PayPal seems to have a few plans in mind for the next couple of years, with one of them becoming the world’s next ‘super app’. They aim to become a one-stop shop for all finance and retail-related items along the lines of China’s Alipay or WeChat.

PayPal has lots of plans in place for additional features to be added to their app, including check-yielding services, stock investing capabilities, and high-yield savings accounts. They have a target to reach around 750 million users by the end of 2025, with their current users being 403 million. However, if this is achieved, PayPal could become an essential part of customers’ overall online experience and possibly even reach the likes of Facebook or Amazon.

                                                                                                                                            

Final Thoughts

If PayPal manages to acquire Pinterest it could be an exciting opportunity. “Pinterest could enhance engagement between consumers and merchants…[and become] a central facilitator in the commerce journey, thereby feeding into the company’s vision of being a super app,” according to analyst Sanjay Sakhrani.

PayPal has been increasing its acquisitions over the years by snapping up competitors and moving into new markets. Let’s hope PayPal manages to pin down Pinterest after all.

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