"Online auction website eBay has said it is to lay off 1,000 employees, which is 10% of its workforce, as part of a move to streamline the business. Many hundreds of temporary workers are also at risk of losing their jobs in the cutbacks.

As it announced the job cuts, eBay also said it had gone on the acquisition trail, buying online payments site Bill Me Later.

EBay also said it had bought two Danish classified advertising websites. It is paying $390m for dba.dk and vehicles site bilbasen.dk. EBay - which already owns online payment firm Paypal - has signed an agreement to buy Bill Me Later for $820m in cash and $125m in options.

"PayPal and Bill Me Later belong together," said eBay president and chief executive John Donahoe in a statement.

"We now have a powerful combination of the two leading, complementary online payment products, each with proven benefits for consumers and online merchants."