April 29 (Reuters) - PayPal's new CEO is making mobile payments app Venmo a separate business as part of a broader reorganization, CNBC reported on Wednesday, citing peoplewith knowledge of the changes.
Venmo will soon operate as a standalone segment within PayPal, a move that will make it easier to track its performance or potentially sell the business, according to the report.
The restructuring would come months after Bloomberg reported that payments firm Stripe was considering an acquisition of PayPal or parts of the company.
Some analysts have said the sale of certain PayPal assets was more likely than an outright buyout, given the size of the business.
PayPal, which is dealing with intensifying competitive pressures in its core business from large technology companies and newer fintech rivals, is looking to recruit a digital banking executive to run the new Venmo segment, the CNBC report said.
PayPal earlier this year ousted CEO Alex Chriss, who had been brought in to guide the firm through a period of slowing growth and rising competition. It appointed Chair Enrique Lores as president and chief executive.
The board had at the time said the speed of transformation and execution under Chriss had fallen short of its expectations. The firm had also issued a weak profit forecast for 2026 that fell well short of Wall Street expectations.
PayPal investors have long been worried that aggressive moves by Big Tech players such as Apple and Google into digital payments could erode the firm's market share in its core business.
Shares of the company were up 2% in afternoon trading. The stock has slipped roughly 15% this year, as of the last close.
The company is poised to report its first-quarter results next week.
PayPal did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters couldn't immediately verify the report.
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
