NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against PayPal Holdings, Inc. (“PayPal” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:PYPL), eBay, Inc. (“eBay”) (NASDAQ:EBAY), and certain of the companies’ officers.  The class action, filed in United States District Court, Northern District of California, and docketed under 16-cv-07371 is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who: (1) purchased or otherwise acquired eBay securities on the open market on or after December 19, 2013 (the “eBay Class Period”) and subsequently received PayPal securities pursuant to eBay’s spin-off of PayPal, effective as of July 17, 2015; and/or (2) purchased or otherwise acquired PayPal securities on the open market between July 20, 2015 and April 28, 2016, both dates inclusive (the “PayPal Class Period” and, together with the eBay Class Period, the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 78 et seq., against eBay, PayPal, and certain of their top officials.

If you are a shareholder who purchased PayPal during the Class Period, you have until February 27, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class.  A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com.  To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased. 

[Click here to join this class action]

PayPal, which was spun off from eBay in July 2015, operates as a technology platform company that enables digital and mobile payments on behalf of consumers and merchants worldwide.  It enables businesses of various sizes to accept payments from merchant websites, mobile devices, and applications, as well as at offline retail locations through a range of payment solutions.  The Company's platform allows customers to pay and get paid, transfer and withdraw funds to their bank accounts, and hold balances in their PayPal accounts in various currencies.

Between 2002 and 2015, PayPal operated as a subsidiary of eBay.  eBay is a multinational e-commerce company providing consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer payment solutions via the internet. 

In 2013, PayPal acquired the payment service provider Braintree, owner of the mobile payment service Venmo.  Describing itself as a “digital wallet,” Venmo is a mobile payment service that allows its users to transfer money to one another after providing Venmo with personal and bank account information necessary to create a user account.

On September 30, 2014, eBay announced that it would spin off PayPal and its services, including Venmo, into a separate publicly traded company.  In July 2015, the companies completed the spin-off, pursuant to which each holder of eBay common stock as of the close of business on July 8, 2015 received one share of PayPal common stock for every one share of eBay common stock held. 

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects.  Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) PayPal’s Venmo service was engaged in unfair trade practices; (ii) the foregoing facts, when they became known, were likely to subject the Company to increased regulatory scrutiny and/or affect the profitability of PayPal’s Venmo service; and (iii) as a result of the foregoing, PayPal’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On April 28, 2016, post-market, PayPal disclosed receipt of a civil investigative demand on March 28, 2016 from the Federal Trade Commission, seeking documents related to the Company’s Venmo peer-to-peer payment service in connection with potential unfair trade practices. 

On this news, PayPal’s share price fell $0.89, or 2.22%, to close at $39.18 on April 29, 2016.  

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com