Stripe and Advent bid $53bn for PayPal at $60.50 a share, a 28% premium

The offer

A joint bid from Stripe and Advent International values PayPal at more than $53 billion, representing around a 28% premium over the July 14 closing price of $47.37. The $60.50-per-share offer was submitted earlier in July and is backed by approximately $50 billion in committed financing from banks, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters. Under the proposed structure, Stripe and Advent would each hold an equal stake in PayPal rather than breaking up the company. The bidders have not yet received a response and are seeking to reach an agreement by the end of the month, the sources said.

The proposal follows an initial approach made in early April.

PayPal's position

The target company has been under sustained pressure. Its shares remain more than 80 percent below their all-time high, and the stock traded above the $60.50 bid price as recently as December 2025. PayPal's core branded-checkout business has been losing market share to Apple Pay and Google Pay, while Venmo, its peer-to-peer payments app, has resisted monetisation at scale. The company disappointed investors with weak profit guidance for 2026 and, after a CEO change, plans to cut at least $1.5 billion in costs over two to three years, with reports indicating a workforce reduction of roughly 20%.

Even if users of PayPal's online checkout are accustomed to quick transactions, its investors should be willing to wait.

The new leadership

Enrique Lores took over as CEO in March following a company profit warning. In May he outlined a turnaround plan built around three business lines, cost cutting, and greater attention to consumers in the checkout operation after years of focus on merchant clients. The reorganisation may improve standalone performance but also makes a future split of the business simpler if alternative bids arrive for parts of the company. Lores has cautioned that confirming all the details of his plan will take time.

Financial arithmetic

Free cash flow reached $5.6 billion last year against net debt of just $2 billion, making PayPal attractive to financial buyers. Lex calculations cited by the Financial Times suggest that Advent and Stripe, needing to inject only about $5 billion of equity thanks to the $50 billion debt package, could raise their bid north of $70 billion and still generate a mid-teens internal rate of return, even before factoring in performance improvements. Breakingviews at Reuters argued the offer leaves room to sweeten the bid by 15%, though additional debt and legacy technology would increase risk.

Market reaction and outlook

PayPal shares jumped roughly 17% in US trading on Wednesday following the Reuters report, pushing the price just above the 200-day moving average near $53. The stock remains 18% lower year-to-date, and Focus analysts see a four-week corridor between $43 and $64, weighted to the downside, with no sustained trend reversal yet confirmed. PayPal, Stripe, and Advent each declined to comment. The sources stressed there is no certainty an approach will lead to a transaction.

Stripe and Advent have not received a response from PayPal and are seeking to reach an agreement by the end of the month.