Payments company Stripe and private equity firm Advent International have jointly offered more than $53 billion to acquire PayPal Holdings, in what would be the largest fintech acquisition in history.
PayPal has not responded to the proposal, which was submitted earlier this month, and the parties are seeking to advance discussions in the coming weeks, according to two people familiar with the matter who declined to be named because the talks are confidential.
Under the proposal, Stripe and Advent would jointly own PayPal with equal stakes rather than breaking up the company. The $60.50 per share offer is backed by about $50 billion in committed financing from banks and represents a 28% premium to PayPal's closing price of $47.37 on Tuesday. PayPal shares surged more than 13% in overnight trading following the news.
The acquisition would create a dominant payments powerhouse at a time when both companies are deepening their push into stablecoins. PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin has reached $2.85 billion in market capitalization, making it the ninth-largest stablecoin, while Stripe has been investing in crypto infrastructure through its Tempo blockchain and the Open USD consortium, which includes BlackRock, Mastercard, Coinbase and Ripple. The deal signals strong institutional confidence that U.S. regulatory clarity from the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act will accelerate stablecoin adoption across mainstream payments.
PayPal's Long Road to a Deal
PayPal was an early pioneer in digital payments but has spent the past several years grappling with slowing growth and intensifying competition from Apple Pay and Google Pay. The company's market capitalization peaked at about $360 billion in 2021 and fell to as low as roughly $36 billion this year, wiping out more than 40% of its market value over the past 12 months.
Chief Executive Officer Enrique Lores, who took over in March, started a sweeping turnaround effort to simplify the payments provider and sharpen its focus on growth. In April, the company split its operations into three units covering checkout, consumer financial services Venmo, and payments and crypto. PayPal's first-quarter revenue rose 7% to $8.35 billion, beating analysts' average estimate of $8.05 billion, while total payment volumes jumped 8% to about $464 billion on a currency-neutral basis.
Consolidation Wave in Payments
The potential PayPal transaction would add to a wave of consolidation in the global payments sector, where buyers have pursued targets amid rapid changes in financial technology and the rise of artificial intelligence. In 2025, Global Payments agreed to acquire rival Worldpay from FIS and private equity firm GTCR for $24.25 billion. Canadian payments firm Nuvei, backed by Advent International and other private equity firms, acquired Payoneer Global for $2.75 billion.
Stripe, which is privately held, was valued at $159 billion in a tender offer for employees and shareholders in February, a more than 70% jump from a similar share sale a year earlier. The company, with headquarters in San Francisco and Dublin, allows businesses to accept payments, make payouts and automate financial processes.
There is no certainty the approach will result in a transaction, and any deal would likely face regulatory scrutiny given the scale and market overlap between the two payments giants.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
