By Jim McCarthy Apr 16, 2009 0 comments

Stubhub on the Selling Block?

Here’s a mostly unsubstantiated rumor that suggests eBay may be considering spinning off Stubhub.  The key snippet is here:

“With parent company eBay announcing Tuesday that it was spinning off its Skype internet telephone company, speculation is beginning to mount that the online auctions giant might also shed its StubHub division.”

This is highly speculative, but not ridiculous.  Dumping Skype was logical.  I think I spoke for a lot of people after that acquisition when three letters emerged over my head in a thought bubble:  wtf?

Ok, three letters and a punctuation mark.

But on to Stubhub:  is there a logical buyer?  Obviously, TM/LN is out.  Probably as a result of the merger, TM is going to be required to ritually slaughter their Ticketsnow acquisition as a sacrifice to the Gods of Congressional Favor.  Of course, if the deal comes off the rails, Live Nation will be in the market for a counterweight to Ticketsnow, and the whole thing starts all over again…

But let’s assume the deal goes through.  Is Amazon a potential buyer?  I’d say yes, but you’d hear a note of apprehension in my voice when you said it.  I’d be unconvinced.

Yahoo?  Microsoft?  Not likely.

A media company?  More likely, but whose got an appetite for this big of an acquisition right now?  Probably not many.

My guess is that Stubhub stays as part of Ebay because, unlike Skype, it IS core to what ebay does:  connecting buyers and sellers in a marketplace.  It’s a specialized marketplace, but a marketplace nonetheless.

Did I miss someone?

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