eBay a Takeover Target For Intercontinental Exchange

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange “has made a takeover offer for eBay Inc.”

ICE has been interested in buying eBay before, and has now approached the e-commerce giant once again, although the WSJ says the talks are not formal. If eBay were interested, ICE would likely have to come up with more than $30 billion to make the deal happen, reflecting eBay’s current valuation of $28 billion, plus a considerable premium.

The WSJ’s sources said ICE is mainly interested in eBay’s marketing business, not the online classified division, which even eBay has considered selling.

We will continue to monitor the story and provide updates as it develops.