Online auction site eBay acquired Critical Path Software, stating that its “proven mobile development capabilities will play an integral role in enabling eBay to accelerate improvements to the mobile experience for customers globally.” The companies have worked together for more than two years, to develop apps including ebay for iPhone, StubHub, eBay Classifieds, and Shopping.com. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

eBay did not state if it intends to operate Critical Path Software as an independent business, serving third-party companies, although Mark Carges, CTO and senior VP of global products for eBay Marketplaces (pictured), said “integrating the Critical Path Software team into eBay will be a big win for mobile shoppers around the world; combined with the talent on our team today, we can make shopping and selling anywhere, anytime, for almost anything, even better.” According to Bloomberg, the deal, which eBay describes as a “talent acquisition,” doubles the size of the commerce company’s mobile team.

eBay said that its iPhone 2.0 eBay app has been downloaded more than 14 million times since its launch in 2008, and the company expects to conduct US$1.5 billion worth of transactions via mobile in 2010. According to a statement, Critical Path Software is based in Portland, Oregon, and “built on a foundation of pioneering the growth of new technologies since 1991.” It is said to be “one of the first developers to create mobile experiences for the iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7 platforms.”