PayPal shares jump over 15% after Stripe, Advent make $53 billion buyout offer

The offer values PayPal at $60.50 per share, according to the Reuters report, which cited two people familiar with the matter. The price is about 28% higher than PayPal’s closing share price on Tuesday.

The proposal was submitted earlier this month and is backed by about $50 billion in committed financing from banks, one of the people told Reuters. PayPal, Stripe and Advent declined to comment.

Stripe and Advent had first approached PayPal in early April, the report said. They have not yet received a response from PayPal and are looking to move talks forward in the coming weeks.

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Under the offer, Stripe and Advent would jointly own PayPal, with both holding equal stakes. The proposal does not involve breaking up the company, Reuters reported. The talks are still at an early stage and there is no certainty that they will lead to a deal.
PayPal shares were last up 16.2% in premarket trading after the report.PayPal was one of the earliest names in digital payments and became a major online checkout brand after being founded in the late 1990s. However, the company has faced rising competition in recent years from Apple Pay, Google Pay and other payment platforms.

The company was a big winner during the pandemic, when online shopping and digital payments surged. Its market value peaked at about $360 billion in 2021. Since then, growth has slowed and investor confidence has weakened. PayPal’s market capitalisation fell to as low as about $36 billion this year, and the stock has lost more than 40% of its value over the past 12 months.

A buyout offer from Stripe and Advent could give PayPal investors a large premium after a long period of weak stock performance. It could also bring together PayPal’s large consumer and merchant base with Stripe’s strength in online payments infrastructure.

After taking over in March, CEO Enrique Lores began a turnaround plan aimed at simplifying the company and returning it to stronger growth.

In April, PayPal split its operations into three units: checkout, consumer financial services including Venmo, and payments and crypto. The company also made several management changes as part of the restructuring.

The offer now puts PayPal at the centre of what could become one of the largest payments industry deals in recent years. Investors will watch whether PayPal agrees to engage with Stripe and Advent, or whether the company decides to continue with its own turnaround plan.