Shares in Pinterest plummeted as financial technology group PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Holdings Inc denied media reports that it is mulling an acquisition of the digital pinboard company.
“In response to market rumours regarding a potential acquisition of Pinterest by PayPal, PayPal stated that it is not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time,” the financial technology company said in a statement.
Last week, media reports said PayPal recently approached Pinterest about a potential takeover, worth up to US$45bn.
Pinterest, which was founded in 2010, has built an active user base of over 454mln, which in its most recent quarterly results generated revenue growth of 125% to US$613mln and net income of US$69mln.
PayPal and its mobile payments service Venmo have been among the pandemic winners, processing record payments of US$936bn in the past year.
Last month, PayPal bought Japan's Paidy for US$2.7bn, to expand its buy-now-pay-later offerings.
Pinterest shares fell over 12% to US$51.05 in pre-market trade, while PayPal shares were 6.34% higher at US$255.65.