(Telecompaper) Activist investor Carl Icahn has taken a 0.82 percent stake in eBay and proposed the company spin off its PayPal business. Icahn also proposed two of his employees to Ebay's board of directors. Ebay said it would consider the board nominations, but rejected the proposal to spin off PayPal. The company said its board had already explored a spin-off or separation of PayPal in detail, but concluded a break-up of the group was not the best strategy. As part of the group, PayPal is able to leverage the company's technology capabilities, commerce platforms and relationships with retailers, brands and large merchants worldwide, eBay said. "Payment is part of commerce, and as part of eBay, PayPal drives commerce innovation in payments at global scale," the company added.