Carl Icahn

eBay plans to spin of its PayPal mobile payments unit into a separate publicly traded company. The online auction site revealed the move in an announcement Tuesday, as reported by The New York Times. The business split, which places both eBay and PayPal on the path activist investor Carl Icahn has been fighting for, will see both reformed as separate publicly traded companies in the second half of 2015.

Family Dollar is rebuffing Dollar General's takeover bid, citing antitrust issues. The discounter's board supports its existing merger with Dollar Tree. Family Dollar Stores Inc. Chairman and CEO Howard Levine said in a statement Thursday that its board and advisers reviewed Dollar General's offer and determined it wasn't reasonably likely to be completed on the terms proposed. Dollar General declined to comment. Family Dollar became a takeover target in part because of its business struggles. The Matthews, N.C.-based company has been shuttering stores and cutting prices in hopes of boosting its financial performance. 

Activist investor Carl Icahn said Thursday that he wants to see Family Dollar sold at once, and he told the retailer that he's prepared to seek shareholder support to fire the entire board of directors if he doesn't get his way. Icahn said in a letter to Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine that he wants three seats on the board of directors, which would comprise a new committee tasked with exploring a sale of the company. The letter said Icahn discussed Family Dollar over dinner with Levine on Wednesday night. The two didn't come to any agreement.