QXL.com, the UK auction web site, has negotiated a new price for its proposed takeover of German rival ricardo.de, about 20% below the original price.

The German company is now worth almost four times less than it was at the time of the original merger proposal, however QXL.com’s share price has also reduced significantly.

The merger was put in doubt last Thursday when QXL received information suggesting that ricardo.de was performing worse than expected. QXL’s chief executive Jim Rose is reported by BBC News as saying that he still believes the merger with Ricardo would create a “strong and competitive” business platform from which to achieve the strategic and financial goals of both companies.

The combined firm will be called QXL ricardo. It will be the largest auction site in Europe with more than two million registered users.

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