eBay To Sell Rent.com To PRIMEDIA

EBay Inc agreed to sell its Rent.com unit to PRIMEDIA as the company shifts away from classified and listings businesses to focus on other e-commerce and payments efforts.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

EBay agreed to buy Rent.com for more than $400 million in late 2004. At the time, the company said the deal, which was mostly paid for with stock, would help eBay get into a new segment of the online real estate market.

More recently, eBay has been focused on improving its main online marketplace and expanding its PayPal payments business.

Rent.com is a leading online listing website for rental properties. The business will be added to several other rental websites already owned by PRIMEDIA, including ApartmentGuide.com, Rentals.com, RentalHouses.com and NewHomeGuide.com.

PRIMEDIA was bought by affiliates of private-equity giant TPG Capital last year.