Activist Elliott said to hold talks with PayPal, may get board seat - report
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Elliott Management is said to be holding talks with PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) that could see the activist help the company assist in future plans.
Discussions between the prominent activist hedge fund and the fintech company are amicable and may result in Elliott getting board representation, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited people familiar. The discussions are ongoing and may fail to yield any agreement.
The update comes after the WSJ first reported Elliott had accumulated a stake in PayPal (PYPL) late Tuesday. Bloomberg separately reported that Elliott had taken the stake to try to speed up the company's cost-cutting efforts and that the activist may become a top five holder of the fintech company.
PayPal (PYPL) shares jumped 12% in trading on Wednesday on the original Elliott news.
BofA analyst Jason Kupferberg was a bit more skeptical of what impact an activist could have on PayPal (PYPL). The payments company is set to report its latest earnings results on Tuesday.
The Elliott stake news comes after analysts last week speculated the payments company may become a target for activists. It may be an opportune time for an activist investor to target PYPL CEO Schulman is about to turn 65 and the board will have to look at succession plan, Gordon Haskett's Don Bilson wrote in a note on Thursday.