PayPal Reopens Sale Talks With Stripe After Rejecting $53B Offer
By CU Today Staff —
SAN JOSE, Calif.—PayPal Holdings is again negotiating a potential sale to a group led by Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International, with the parties discussing a price above a roughly $53 billion proposal PayPal previously viewed as too low, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The renewed discussions could produce an agreement within weeks, although the talks could still fall apart and no deal has been reached, reports indicated.
Stripe and Advent offered $60.50 per PayPal share in July, valuing the payments company at more than $53 billion and representing about a 28% premium to its share price before the bid became public. Reuters reported the proposal was backed by roughly $50 billion in committed bank financing, but subsequently reported PayPal's board believed the bid undervalued the company and presented regulatory and financing complications. Bloomberg also reported PayPal has been working with Goldman Sachs and Evercore to evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale or breakup.
The renewed talks come as PayPal CEO Enrique Lores, who took over in March, attempts to revive growth at a company whose market value has fallen sharply from its pandemic-era peak. PayPal reported second-quarter revenue of $8.68 billion, up 5% from a year earlier, and raised its 2026 profit forecast while pursuing cost reductions and investments in AI and technology. A combination would unite Stripe's large merchant payments operation with PayPal's consumer businesses, including Venmo; PayPal has about 440 million active accounts and processed roughly $1.8 trillion in payment volume in 2025, while Stripe processed about $1.9 trillion.
Originally reported by CU Today.