Pinterest shares jumped 11% on Wednesday in the wake of reports that PayPal is investigating a $39 million takeover of the social media company.
Trading in Pinterest was twice briefly halted on Wednesday, with shares up around 11% at $62 by 1.00pm EST. PayPal shares fell about three per cent.
Earlier, citing people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reported that PayPal has approached Pinterest about a potential deal at a price of around $70 a share.
A deal would help PayPal in the rush to social commerce that is being targeted by the likes of Instagram. Pinterest has rolled out features that lets users make purchases from creators' 'Pins'.
PayPal has made a host of big buys recently, including a $2.6 billion deal for BNPL firm Paidy and a $4 billion acquisition of price-comparison app Honey.