The week is less than an hour old here in California but the blog is already up and running because the eBay shopping season continues. The company today announced it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire all of the shares of brands4friends, Germany’s largest online shopping club for fashion and lifestyle, for cash at a transaction value of approx. US$200 million (EUR150 million). The move is designed to strengthen eBay’s position as a leading online fashion destination in Europe.

Founded in 2007, brands4friends has approximately 3.5 million members in Germany, and has held a wide variety of campaigns with over 600 top brands, including international fashion brands such as Buffalo, Calvin Klein and Diesel. The company, which employs some 200 people, is headquartered in Berlin.

UPDATED 12:45pm PT 12/20/10

Cheers,
RBH

The following Forward Looking Statement was also included with the release:

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, and 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, the possibility that the transaction may not close, the reaction of the users of brands4friends services, the future growth of brands4friends business, the reaction of competitors to the transaction and the possibility that integration following the transaction may be more difficult than expected. More information about potential factors which could affect our business and results is included in eBay’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, its Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other periodic filings. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to eBay on the date hereof, and eBay assumes no obligation to update such statements.