eBay to Acquire Germany's mobile.de

SAN JOSE, Calif. & HAMBURG, Germany--Jan. 2, 20046, 2004--eBay, The World's Online Marketplace (www.ebay.com), today announced that it has agreed to acquire mobile.de, one of the leading online classifieds websites for vehicles in Germany. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval in Germany and other closing conditions, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2004.

The acquisition will allow eBay Germany to enhance its existing online marketplace for vehicles with mobile.de's complementary classifieds format. The combination of mobile.de and eBay will give sellers the ability to select the trading format that works best for them, while giving buyers a greater range of choice and convenience.

"This is a great match for eBay Germany," said Bill Cobb, senior vice president of eBay International. "Combining eBay and mobile.de will allow our users to enjoy the best of both companies and create a tremendously efficient place to buy and sell autos and other vehicles in Germany."

"We have built mobile.de into Germany's best online classifieds website," said Ruediger Bartholatus, CEO of mobile.de. "Becoming part of eBay will allow us to further build our business and create an even better offering for our users."

Based in Hamburg, mobile.de is one of the leading classifieds websites in Germany for buying and selling vehicles. With more than 800,000 listings, mobile.de offers a wide array of choices, from passenger cars and motorcycles to trucks and recreational vehicles. The site now has more than 22 million unique visitors per month, according to IVW. mobile.de was founded in 1996 and later received partial funding by the private equity firm Granville Baird Capital Partners.

"mobile.de is a wonderful company and its management team has done a great job building the business," said Philipp Justus, managing director of eBay Germany. "Together, we can build a vibrant marketplace for vehicles in Germany and help more people buy and sell cars, motorcycles and other vehicles online."

eBay will acquire all outstanding shares of mobile.de for approximately EUR 121 million in cash, or approximately US$152 million, based on the January 23, 2004 exchange rate of EUR 1.26 per US$1.00, plus acquisition costs to be determined at the time the transaction is closed. The actual purchase price paid by eBay at closing will be subject to certain pre-closing price adjustments and will be based on the exchange rate in effect at that time.

eBay expects the acquisition to have a nominal impact on 2004 net revenues, and does not expect it to affect eBay's financial guidance relating to GAAP and pro forma diluted earnings per share for 2004 as issued in connection with its fourth quarter earnings release on January 21, 2004.

About mobile.de

Founded in 1996, mobile.de was one of the first websites in Germany dedicated to the buying and selling of automobiles and other vehicles through the classified advertising format online. Since then, it has grown into one of the leading websites of its kind in Germany with a growing audience among dealers and individuals.

About eBay

eBay is The World's Online Marketplace(R). Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items across thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with customized sites in markets around the world. Through an array of services, such as its payment solution provider PayPal, eBay is enabling global e-commerce for an ever growing online community.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the receipt and timing of regulatory approval for the transaction by the Federal Cartel Office in Germany, the possibility that the transaction may not close, the reaction of the users of mobile.de's services, the future growth of mobile.de's services, the reaction of competitors to the proposed transaction, and the possibility that integration following closing will prove more difficult than expected. More information about potential factors which could affect eBay's business and financial results is included in eBay's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which can be found on eBay's investor relations website at http://investor.ebay.com. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to eBay on the date hereof, and eBay assumes no obligation to update such statements.