eBay’s Purpose is to empower people and create opportunity through Connected Commerce. As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we are executing a clear business strategy that focuses on eBay being the best global marketplace and a great enduring Internet business.
Executing against our strategy includes regularly reviewing and actively managing our investment portfolio to ensure it fits within the broader strategic direction of eBay.
For example, our recent announcements about the sale of eBay Enterprise and the sale of eBay’s equity interest in craigslist illustrate eBay’s focus on our three strategic pillars for growth, and our disciplined approach to value creation, profitability and capital allocation.
Today we are taking another step to effectively manage our global interests and invest in other strategic initiatives, by announcing that eBay has sold a portion of our investment in Snapdeal, an India-based ecommerce company. Over the past two years, the valuation of Snapdeal has significantly increased, and because eBay was an early investor, this sale will enable us to earn a strong return on our invested capital and strategically redeploy it into other areas of our business.
India is an important market for eBay, and part of our fast-growing APAC region. While we will retain a significant portion of our original investment in Snapdeal, we also have a strong, healthy business with eBay.in, a leading online marketplace and shopping destination in India, which gives Indian consumers access to more than 30 million items, and has become a leading platform for 65,000 entrepreneurs and businesses in India to reach a global customer base.
Going forward we will focus on accelerating eBay’s presence in India, and empowering customers through technology, as with our new #SheMeansBusiness program that encourages female entrepreneurs with online businesses to share their success stories and help other like-minded businesswomen.