ebay which owns the Paypal is buying GSI Commerce for $1.96bn cash and taking on the firm’s $400m of debts so total deal of $2.4 billion.
GSI handles e-commerce activities for companies including Toys R Us and Ralph Lauren. It is eBay’s largest purchase in the US since buying Skype for $2.6bn in 2005.

GSI owns several internet businesses, including ShopRunner, a members-only online shopping service that offers free shipment of goods.

It also provides retailers with technology, payment processing and customer care services for their e-commerce sites.

Analysts said the GSI takeover is attractive to eBay because of its expertise in taking customer orders, managing them, and sending them out an area in which Amazon.com excels.