Wedbush Analyst Says Alibaba/eBay Deal Is Not Imminent

Speaking to Benzinga, Wedbush Analyst Gil Luria addressed the rumors of a deal between Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA and eBay Inc EBAY.

Luria noted that a number of companies might be interested in acquiring eBay Marketplace or PayPal and that Google Inc GOOG GOOGL would most likely be interested in PayPal after it is spun-off.

As far as eBay is concerned, “there really is only one potential buyer down the road” of sufficient size, “and that’s Alibaba”, according to Luria, with eBay Marketplace at a $30-$40 billion market capitalization.

“That doesn’t mean it would happen, but somewhere down the line if Alibaba decides that it wanted to enter the western markets in a more significant way, this is a path they could pursue.”

Luria commented that western markets are, however, currently saturated and significant market share is held by eBay and Amazon.com Inc AMZN which is why Alibaba is focused on China with “some attempts to expand into Russia, Brazil and India.”

While Alibaba may wish to buy eBay at some point to for greater access to the U.S., such a deal would not be imminent, Luria concluded.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd recently traded at $87.22, up 1.42 percent.

eBay Inc recently traded at $55.23, up 1.66 percent.

Kevin Riley and Brianna Valleskey contributed to this report.