PayPal parent eBay has confirmed that it has agreed an $800 million cash deal to buy Chicago-based payments start-up Braintree.
Founded in 2007, Braintree enables online and mobile businesses to accept card payments. The firm processes more than $12 billion in payments annually for over 4000 merchants, including Github, Shopify and Angry Birds creator Rovio.
Once the acquisition closes - expected in the fourth quarter - Braintree will operate as a separate service within PayPal and continue to be led by CEO Bill Ready. The rest of the start-up's management and employees are also expected to stay on.
Importantly for PayPal, the acquisition gives it access to Venmo, the mobile commerce outfit Braintree acquired last year for $26.2 million. Venmo stores users' card details so that they can pay with a single click for in-app purchases at partner merchants.
"Bill Ready and his team add complementary talent and technology that we believe will help accelerate PayPal's global leadership in mobile payments," says eBay CEO John Donahoe.