EBay to Acquire Shopping.com for $620 Million

EBay Inc. agreed Wednesday to buy Shopping.com, an online price-comparison website, for about $620 million in cash, giving the largest Internet marketplace another platform where sellers can list merchandise.

EBay said the acquisition of Brisbane, Calif.-based Shopping.com would offer EBay sellers a new way to reach consumers. The $21-a-share deal price is 20% more than Shopping.com’s closing price Wednesday.

Shopping.com and other price-comparison sites have been growing as more people search for low prices. Shopping.com had 22.6 million visitors in April, making it the third-most-visited U.S. commerce website, trailing EBay and Amazon.com Inc., according to ComScore Networks Inc., a firm that measures Web use.

In regular trading Wednesday, shares of San Jose-based EBay climbed $1.11 to $39.11 and Shopping.com rose 37 cents to $17.44. The deal was announced after the close of regular trading. In after-hours trading, EBay slipped to $38.78 and Shopping.com jumped to $20.90.

Originally known as Dealtime.com, Shopping.com has price-comparison sites in the U.S., Britain and France and also operates Epinions.com, a community site on which a reported 400,000 reviewers critique products and services.

Shopping.com had sales of $28.9 million in the first quarter, up 38% from a year earlier. Net income increased 72% to $3.9 million, or 12 cents a share.