Cfo Thought Leader

Back in 2008, when auction giant eBay acquired Bill Me Later (BML), a Maryland-based payment credit company, Brian Whalen and his BML colleagues breathed a sigh of relief. “We had just enough liquidity and options to give us the runway to sell to eBay and PayPal, so—from a learning perspective—it was really about asking the questions ‘How do you keep those options open?’ and ‘How do you keep your liquidity choices available to you so that you can capture the moment?’” says Whalen. Having served in a number business development roles at BML, he recalls as if it were yesterday the sudden wallop that the credit crisis delivered: “It hit us like a sledgehammer, so we made the decision to tighten credit and sacrifice some growth for the quality of our assets.” In addition to preserving cash, BML would raise $100 million from Amazon and T. Rowe Price, while having discussions with a string of potential suitors. Ultimately, in October 2008, eBay acquired the firm for $820 million in cash and approximately $125 milli