Reuters says that the private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners is the frontrunner in talks to purchase eBay’s enterprise unit, formerly known as GSI Commerce. The proposed price tag is reportedly around $1 billion. eBay paid $2.4 billion for GSI Commerce in 2011.
Thomas H. Lee has so far outbid other parties in the auction for the business, though disagreements over price persist and there is no certainty that a deal will be reached, the people said this week.
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eBay announced in January that it would be looking for an alternate future for this sluggishly performed business unit. Clients have moved their Web services from ebay to in-house website.
Reuters mentions that Toys “R” Us Inc, a client of GSI Commerce since 2006, announced on Thursday it was launching its own online platform, a move that could take away more business from the unit.
Toys “R” Us has said that bringing its eCommerce operations in-house will allow them to provide a better customer experience.
Boston based Thomas H. Lee has raised approximately $21 billion of equity capital and invested in more than 130 portfolio companies with an aggregate value of over $150 billion since it was founded in 1974, reports says. For Thomas H. Lee the deal would give the firm a foothold in eCommerce.
Bloomberg News reported last month that Thomas H. Lee was one of the remaining bidders for eBay’s enterprise unit, report says.
