Based on a statement released Monday, PayPal Inc is not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest Inc at this time.
The statement came in response to media reports that the payments processing company was in talks to buy the digital pinboard site for as much as $45 billion.
The talks between the two firms were initially reported by Bloomberg News on Wednesday, and they were later confirmed by Reuters.
An anonymous source told Reuters at the time that PayPal had made an offer of $70 a share, primarily in stock, to acquire Pinterest.
However, sources told Reuters that there was no certainty in the agreement and that the terms may alter at any time.
At the reported price, the deal would have been the largest acquisition of a social media business, surpassing Microsoft Corp.'s $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn in 2016, which was the previous record holder.
PayPal did not disclose any additional information in its statement, which resulted in its London depositary interests rising by 5.2% by 0730 GMT on Monday as a result of the announcement.
Additionally, both companies did not reply to requests for comment.
Paypal, one of the big pandemic winners, has completed a number of acquisitions this year, including the $2.7 billion acquisition of the Japanese buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firm Paidy.
Also in May, it acquired Happy Returns, a company that facilitates the return of undesired products purchased online, for an unknown fee, in order to strengthen its online operations and build on its $4 billion acquisition of online coupon site Honey Science earlier this year.
Pinterest is popular for allowing its 454 million users to pin images and links to their online pinboards, as well as allowing them to purchase products directly through so-called "buyable pins."
Instead of making money through online sales, Pinterest makes most of its money through advertising.
Pinterest has found itself at a crossroads after co-founder Evan Sharp disclosed earlier this month that he would be quitting his post as chief creative officer to join LoveFrom, a company led by Jony Ive, who designed many Apple Inc products.
Meanwhile, Paypal's publicly traded shares in the United States have fallen by approximately 11.5% since the news of the negotiations broke, while Pinterest has gained by approximately 4.5%.
