PayPal closes $4bn Honey acquisition | Calamatta Cuschieri

Maltese market closed in red on Tuesday, with MSE total index ending the session 0.276% lower to 9,515.635 points. Best performer was HSBC Bank Malta plc. It added 1.69% to close at 1.20, followed by RS2 Software plc and Malta International Airport plc which jumped 0.93% and 0.73% to close at 2.18 and 6.9. Biggest fall, of 6.78% was seen from Mapfre Middlesea plc which closed at 2.20. Followed by Lombard Bank Malta plc which fell 4.39% to close at 2.18.

European stocks were modestly higher on Tuesday, with investors taking their cue from US markets, which had finished higher the day before on the hope that the worst scenarios in the Middle East could yet be averted. By the end of trading, the benchmark Stoxx 600 had added 0.25% to 417.67, alongside a 0.76% jump to 13,226.83 for Germany's Dax and a gain of 0.60% to 23,723.38 for the FTSE Mibtel.

US stocks closed lower on Tuesday as investors continued to monitor headlines surrounding tensions in the Middle East. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.42% at 28,583.68, while the S&P 500 was 0.28% weaker at 3,237.17 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.03% softer at 9,068.58.

PayPal Holdings, Inc. announced that it has completed its acquisition of Honey Science Corporation for approximately $4 billion in cash.

PayPal announced that it has agreed to acquire Honey  Science Corporation, the makers of a deal-finding browser add-on and mobile application, for $4 billion, mostly cash. The acquisition, which is PayPal’s largest to date, will give the payments giant a foothold earlier in the customer’s shopping journey. Instead of only competing on the checkout page against credit cards or Apple Pay, for example, PayPal will leap ahead to become a part of the deal discovery process, as well.

Currently, Honey’s 17 million monthly active users take advantage of its suite of money-saving tools to track prices, get alerts, make lists, browse offers and participate in an Ebates-like rewards program called Honey Gold. Its users tend to be younger, millennial shoppers, both male and female.

PayPal aims to add Honey’s technology to its own product line, expanding its reach to PayPal’s 300 million users.

PayPal’s network of 24 million merchant partners will gain the ability to offer targeted and more personalized promotions to consumers as a means of acquiring new business and driving increased sales. PayPal Credit may also be integrated into Honey to help finance larger purchases.

This article was issued by Nadiia Grech, Junior Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.