Ebay parts ways with StumbleUpon

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 14 Apr 2009 at 08:38

Ebay has announced that it's sold StumbleUpon back to its original owners, just two years after the auction giant splashed out $75m for the company.

StumbleUpon was added to Ebay's roster during its web 2.0 acquisition binge, which also saw the company hand over $2.6 billion for Skype.

However, the web discovery service has never really found a fit at Ebay, and has now returned to the hands of its co-founders Garrett Camp and Geoff Smith, backed by a team of investors. Financial details have not been discussed.

"We are grateful to Ebay for its guidance. However, we realised there were few long-term synergies between the two businesses. It is best for us to part ways and focus on our respective strengths," says Camp in a statement.

"This change makes it possible for StumbleUpon to continue to innovate and focus on becoming the web's largest recommendation service."

The news that Ebay was parting ways with StumbleUpon has also sparked renewed speculation that it might look at doing the same with Skype.

Reports earlier in the week suggested its original owners are putting together some sort of deal to retake control of the company, though anaylsts have written off any potential deal claiming the two parties are too far apart in their valuation of Skype.