Stripe, described in reports as a financial plumbing firm, and buyout shop Advent International have put forward a joint proposal to acquire PayPal for $60.50 per share, a price that values the payments company at more than $53 billion. The bid, submitted earlier in July, is backed by about $50 billion in committed financing from banks, according to the reporting.
The approach follows an initial outreach made in early April and, as structured, would give Stripe and Advent equal ownership stakes in PayPal if the deal proceeds. The proposal has not received a response, the report said.
For PayPal - the parent of peer-to-peer payments service Venmo - the offer can be seen as a welcome source of strategic options. Observers in the report framed the price as a bargain, noting there is room to sweeten the bid by roughly 15% from the stated level. Such an increase would lift the headline consideration for shareholders but would also reshape the transaction economics.
Specifically, raising the offer to a materially higher level would likely require additional funding and would amplify the role of debt in the capital structure, increasing financial leverage. The report also highlights another trade-off: paying more for PayPal could mean taking on greater exposure to its legacy technology base, rather than avoiding or replacing it.
The financing underpinning the current proposal is significant: about $50 billion of committed bank financing is said to be in place to support the transaction as proposed. That level of backing demonstrates banks' willingness to finance large-scale payments-sector deals but also signals the importance of debt arrangements to any potential close.
At the level pitched, Stripe and Advent would each hold equal stakes post-transaction. Beyond those structural details, there was no indication in the report that PayPal's board has provided a response to the approach.
The report's assessment presents a narrow calculus for buyers and sellers: the present offer gives PayPal shareholders a clear valuation, but there remains optionality - and commensurate risk - if the price is pushed higher to secure a deal.