Norwegian online ad specialist Adevinta is set to purchase e-commerce giant eBay's online ad business, sources told AFP Monday. A final price tag could be between eight and nine billion dollars (seven to 7.8 billion euros), according to UK and US media reports. The deal is about eBay Classifieds Group, which in turn owns online classifieds like the UK's Gumtree and Kijiji of Italy and Canada. According to a source contacted by AFP the deal was set to be announced on Monday or Tuesday. Trading in Adevinta's shares, as well as those of its main stakeholder Schibsted, were halted on Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported that a deal was imminent. According to media report, tech investment group Prosus, and a consortium including investment funds Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman were also in the running for a buyout. If closed, the deal would allow Adevinta to almost double in size. At the closing bell on Friday the firm was valued at 7.4 billion euros on the Oslo stock exchange. Spun out of media group Schibsted -- which still holds 59.3 percent of the capital -- last year, Adevinta is present in 15 countries in Europe, Latin America and North Africa. phy/jll/rl