We liked The ICE (ticker: ICE) as a potential acquirer of Bloomberg LP. News that The ICE moved to acquire eBay is consistent with ICE founder & CEO Jeff Sprecher’s affinity for “exchange” / “marketplace” type businesses.
The deal could carry a $30 billion value per the Wall Street Journal. EBAY shares are up 9% to $29.8 billion. EBAY’s current valuation implies a 9.2x trailing EV/Operating Cash Flow multiple. ICE is reportedly interested in EBAY’s marketplace business, not the classified business. This deal gets increasingly interesting if ICE were to “crypto-enable” EBAY’s marketplace platform.