Honey co-founders Ryan Hudson (left) and George Ruan (right). image: Honey

PayPal has announced it has agreed to acquire Honey Science Corporation, an LA-based tech company behind a popular eponymous deals and coupons discovery tool, for roughly $4 billion. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of next year, subject to conventional closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. It represents PayPal’s biggest acquisition since inception, and a likely mouth-watering win for Honey’s shareholders, given the company only raised a relatively paltry $49 million in total funding.

After the acquisition, Honey will retain its headquarters in Los Angeles, where its co-founders George Ruan and Ryan Hudson will continue to lead its team but as part of PayPal’s global consumer product and technology organization. The two co-founders will report to PayPal SVP John Kunze while maintaining their positions.

Honey was founded in 2012, and has grown to be a deals discovery tool with roughly 17 million monthly active users. The LA-based company curates deals from a large number of retailers, approximately 30,000 currently, and offers them to its users via a browser extension. Honey says its curated deals have helped people save more than $1 billion worth of online purchases in the past year alone.

A screenshot of the Honey browser extension at work image: Honey

PayPal says Honey was profitable on a net income basis last year. “Honey is amongst the most transformative acquisitions in PayPal’s history. It provides a broad portfolio of services to simplify the consumer shopping experience, while at the same time making it more affordable and rewarding,” PayPpal CEO Dan Schulman said in a statement.

“The combination of Honey’s complementary consumer products with our platform will significantly enhance our ability to drive engagement and play a more meaningful role in the daily lives of our consumers.” Schulman said.

“Combining PayPal’s assets and reach with our technology, we can build powerful new online shopping experiences for consumers and merchants,” Honey co-founder Ryan Hudson added. “We’ll have the ability to help millions of retailers efficiently reach consumers with offers that deliver more and more value to Honey members.” He said.