Stripe and Advent International in talks to acquire PayPal at higher valuation
Negotiations follow a rejected $53 billion offer from July, with sources indicating a potential price increase as the companies seek to close the deal in the coming weeks.
Stripe and private equity firm Advent International are in advanced discussions to acquire PayPal, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal. The two entities are negotiating a new price per share that could exceed their previous proposal, which was rejected by PayPal in July. A formal announcement of the deal could occur in the coming weeks, although the talks remain subject to potential collapse.
The initial offer made in July valued PayPal at $53 billion, translating to $60.50 per share. At the time, the payment processor was trading near historic lows, with a market capitalisation of approximately $40 billion. This represents a significant decline from its peak valuation during the height of the pandemic, where the company lost roughly $320 billion in value. The current negotiations suggest the buyers are adjusting their approach to meet PayPal’s expectations after the earlier bid failed to secure a sale.
Under the terms of the previous proposal, as reported by Reuters, Stripe and Advent International would have held equal stakes as joint owners of the company. The buyers had indicated no intention to break up PayPal’s operations. If the acquisition proceeds, it would position Stripe as one of the largest online payment companies globally, with the combined entity processing approximately $3.7 trillion in payments annually.
PayPal’s current strategic direction is being shaped by CEO Enrique Lores, who was appointed in March. Lores has restructured the business into three distinct units: checkout, Venmo, and payments and crypto. It remains unclear how this recent corporate restructuring would be impacted by an acquisition, or whether the new ownership would alter the operational independence of these units.
Strategic analysts suggest the merger could offer significant synergies for Stripe, potentially reducing its reliance on Visa and MasterCard. The integration would allow Stripe to incorporate Venmo, PayPal’s checkout infrastructure, and its cryptocurrency features into its own product ecosystem. However, the final price per share and the specific structure of the deal have not yet been confirmed.
