Stripe and Advent make $53bn bid for PayPal
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Payments start-up Stripe and private equity group Advent International have launched a joint bid to acquire New York-listed PayPal in a deal that would value the company at about $53bn.
Stripe, led by brothers Patrick and John Collison, made the offer of $60.50 a share this month, said two people familiar with the matter.
However, the price offered is a steep discount to the valuation at which PayPal traded just a year ago, and there are no signs PayPal has engaged with the offer, said the people.
The bid represents a premium of about 28 per cent to PayPal’s closing price on Tuesday and is backed by $50bn in committed bank financing, according to the people.
The bid follows an earlier expression of interest. The people familiar with the offer cautioned that PayPal had so far been reluctant to engage with the two suitors.
They added that a deal was unlikely to materialise at the proposed valuation, as recently appointed chief executive Enrique Lores pursues a turnaround.
The online payments group’s share price has slid 19 per cent this year and traded in the $70 range a year ago.
The stock is down 84 per cent from its 2021 peak as growth has slowed and rivals, including Apple Pay, Shop Pay and Klarna, have pushed into the payments space.
PayPal and Advent declined to comment. Stripe did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The approach by Stripe and Advent was first reported by Reuters.
Any deal would be transformative for Stripewhich was valued at $159bn in a February tender offer and has been repeatedly tipped as a potential initial public offering candidate, though John Collison has said the company is in no rush to list.
Adding PayPal would bring Stripe a consumer-facing checkout brand with more than 400mn users. The people familiar with the matter said Stripe and Advent intended to jointly own PayPal.
Advent has a deep record in payments companies, having previously backed Worldpay, Vantiv and Nexi.
