Magento, the open source eCommerce engine, has tonight confirmed that they have been acquired by eBay. In a move that will move the minority investment of eBay into a controlling majority and position eBay as a software-as-a-service provider of eCommerce software the big question is what will happen to the independence of the software? And what will happen to the development community that has build up over the last 3 years around the Magento platform?
Will the platform remain payment integration independent or will payments now have to be processed through PayPal?
Below is an extract from an email from Magento:
“The past several years have been an amazing journey for Magento, as we’ve grown from a new open source platform into an eCommerce leader. Along the way, we’ve built not only a platform, but a company and a worldwide community. Together, we’ve identified opportunities, taken risks, innovated, struggled, succeeded, and changed the face of eCommerce. Today marks a milestone on this journey as we announce the most exciting news in our company’s history.
Magento has reached an agreement to be acquired by eBay Inc. We believe this move will open incredible opportunities for the entire Magento ecosystem.
The Big Picture
Why is this acquisition so exciting for all of us? eBay is evolving to become a strategic commerce partner focused on delivering new ways for merchants of all sizes to drive innovation. As a centerpiece of this strategy, they are building a global, open commerce platform that leverages the worldwide developer community. And Magento will be at the core of this new, open commerce platform, called “X.Commerce.”“