eBay Stacking Up The Acquisitions

If eBay EBAY should know how to do anything, its bid on and get something that they want. For years, sellers have used the service to get the best possible price for something they own, while buyers have used it to pay the lowest possible price for something they want. All the while, eBay has been watching and, apparently, taking notes. In the last month, eBay has succeeded with deals to acquire three different companies. Meanwhile, it made a fortune from the sale of Skype to Microsoft MSFT. The most ruthless auctioneer on the site would have to concede that the powers-that-be are still the Jedi Masters when it comes to the art of the deal. On Thursday, eBay announced that it has acquired Zong for $240 million. Zong, a leading provider of payments through mobile carrier billing, leverages connections with more than 250 mobile network operators around the world, offering localized, secure and easy-to-use payments capabilities for digital goods and services in 21 languages and 45 countries. The Zong deal comes one day after eBay announced the acquisition of e-commerce platform Magento, of which it already owned a minority stake but bought the rest in an attempt to become the go-to resource for online and offline retailers. Mid-June saw eBay acquire GSI Commerce GSIC, a leading provider of ecommerce and interactive marketing services for the world's premier brands and retailers. That deal resulted in GSI shareholders being paid $0.33 per share. eBay has certainly been flashing the cash it made from the Skype sale. Remember, people laughed at them for paying $2.6 billion for Skype, and it later sold for $8.5 billion. Who's to say they won't make similar profits on Zong, Magento and GSI?