eBay's iBazar Deal Sets Up Asian Showdown

With its European presence cemented by the acquisition of France's iBazar, online marketplace eBay (EBAY Quote) can now turn its attention to the next battleground in the business of Internet auctioneering: Asia, where rival Yahoo! (YHOO Quote) is the established leader.

Late Wednesday, eBay said it purchased Paris-based iBazar, an online auction business with footholds in Belgium, Brazil, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. The deal eliminates a key European competitor for eBay and is an important step toward realizing the company's goal of establishing one auction site that spans Europe's borders, with the eventual aim of a panglobal site, company executives told analysts and investors in a conference call Thursday morning.

"This acquisition is a decisive event for us," said Meg Whitman, eBay's chief executive, in the call. "It measurably strengthens our global marketplace." The acquisition is an all-stock deal that could be worth as much as $112 million, a price most analysts described as inexpensive, considering that as recently as last fall the market valued iBazar at about $300 million. ...