That would value Pinterest at $45 billion.

PayPal Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) sounded out Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) recently on a takeover, Bloomberg reported. The two companies are said to have considered a potential price of $70 per listed Class A share. (Yahoo Finance)

The implied $45 billion valuation for all of Pinterest represented a 26% premium to the company’s share price of $55.58 as at the close of Tuesday’s trading. The media reports triggered a surge in the price of the share on Wednesday, enough to hit a trading halt twice. After touching a high of $66, the shares are currently trading at $63, up 13.33%.

The proposed acquisition of Pinterest would allow PayPal to get its foot in the door of “social commerce,” a fast-growing space being eyed by other tech heavyweights too. Companies are able to get reliable information on customers’ buying habits from their clicks and other app activity – data useful in advertising.

According to sources, PayPal will likely finance the Pinterest acqusition through stock. PayPal currently has a market capitalization of about $301 billion.

Last month, PayPal announced its acquisition of Paidy, a Japanese buy now, pay later (BNPL) service platform, for approximately $2.7 billion to develop its Japanese business.

Related Story: PayPal To Acquire Japanese BNPL Pioneer Paidy For $2.7B