Payments company Stripe and private equity firm Advent International have jointly proposed acquiring PayPal Holdings Inc, offering $60.50 per share in a deal that would place PayPal’s total value at more than $53 billion, according to two individuals with knowledge of the situation.
The offer, which was submitted earlier this month, carries approximately $50 billion in committed bank financing and amounts to a premium of roughly 28% above PayPal’s closing share price as of Tuesday, the sources indicated.
Both sources requested anonymity because the discussions remain confidential. Advent International declined to offer any comment on the matter, while PayPal and Stripe had not responded to requests for comment at the time of reporting.
The current proposal builds on an initial approach that was first made back in early April, the sources noted. Stripe and Advent have yet to receive any reply from PayPal and are hoping to move the conversation forward in the weeks ahead, according to those familiar with the matter.
If the deal were to proceed, Stripe and Advent would each hold an equal ownership stake in PayPal rather than dividing or breaking up the company, the sources said. However, they cautioned that there is no guarantee the proposal will ultimately result in a completed transaction.
PayPal was established in the late 1990s and was one of the earliest companies to stake out territory in digital payments. In recent years, however, it has struggled to keep pace as consumers have shifted toward newer payment options and competitors such as Apple Pay and Google Pay have captured growing portions of the market.
The company has spent several years dealing with slowing revenue growth and mounting competition, which has erased much of the dramatic value it accumulated during the pandemic years. PayPal’s market capitalization hit a high of roughly $360 billion in 2021 before tumbling to as low as approximately $36 billion this year — a decline of more than 40% in market value over the past 12 months alone.
PayPal CEO Enrique Lores took the helm in March and quickly launched a broad restructuring effort aimed at streamlining the company and redirecting its focus toward growth. In April, the company reorganized into three distinct business units — one covering checkout services, one focused on consumer financial services including Venmo, and a third handling payments and cryptocurrency — alongside a series of leadership changes.
