Stripe and Advent International have made a joint offer to acquire PayPal for $60.50 per share in cash, a deal that would value the payments company at more than $53 billion. This offer represents approximately a 28% premium over PayPal's closing share price on Tuesday, according to Reuters. The bid is backed by about $50 billion in committed financing from banks.
The proposed acquisition comes as PayPal is undergoing a leadership reset. In February, the board removed former CEO Alex Chriss and appointed Enrique Lores, previously CEO of HP, on March 1. Lores has quickly implemented changes, including splitting PayPal into three units in April (checkout, consumer financial services and Venmo, and payments and crypto) and announcing plans in May to use AI to achieve $1.5 billion in savings over two to three years, which will be reinvested.
Analysts have reacted to the offer, with William Blair's Andrew Jeffrey suggesting that PayPal's new CEO may not embrace what he views as a "low-ball offer," speculating that Stripe and Advent could go as high as $70 per share. The strategic appeal for Stripe, which processed $1.9 trillion in payments in 2025, lies in gaining PayPal's more than 430 million consumer accounts and direct consumer payment relationships, as well as Venmo's peer-to-peer network and PayPal's consumer-facing checkout button. This would combine two of the largest payments platforms, creating an entity processing an estimated $3.7 trillion annually.
PayPal's market value has significantly declined from a peak near $360 billion in 2021 to around $36 billion earlier this year, falling over 40% in the past 12 months. Despite its challenges, PayPal's first-quarter revenue rose 7% to $8.35 billion, exceeding a consensus of $8.05 billion, and total payment volume grew 8% on a currency-neutral basis to approximately $464 billion. The offer was made earlier this month, following an initial approach in early April, but PayPal has not yet responded. There is no certainty the proposal will result in a transaction.
