(CNN) — PayPal is not looking to buy Pinterest, the digital payments company said Sunday, following reports that it was exploring yet another big-ticket acquisition.
In a succinct statement made “in response to market rumors,” PayPal said it’s “not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time.”
Shares in PayPal gained 6.7% in premarket trade on Monday, while Pinterest dropped 12% ahead of the open.
Last week, several media outlets reported that PayPal had approached the bookmarking website with an acquisition deal that would have valued Pinterest at over $40 billion. Bloomberg, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal all reported PayPal’s interest, citing sources.
PayPal has a history of massive acquisitions, buying Japanese buy-now-pay-later service Paidy for $2.7 billion last month. The company’s previous purchases include mobile payments platform Venmo and shopping reward site Honey.
A deal with Pinterest, often considered a feel-good corner of the internet, would have given PayPal access to even more consumer data. In recent years, Pinterest has introduced more shopping features and also partnered with Shopify to make it easier for sellers to use Pinterest to reach potential customers.
Shares of Pinterest had spiked nearly 12% following the initial reports of a potential deal, but gave up most of the gains later in the week.
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