PayPal in talks to sell itself to Stripe and Advent International consortium

Published Aug 17, 07:58 AM UTC

PayPal shares surged following reports of active sale discussions with a consortium led by fintech rival Stripe and private equity firm Advent International. The Wall Street Journal reported that PayPal's board previously rejected a $60.50-per-share bid from the same group in July, deeming it insufficient. PayPal's new CEO Enrique Lores stated the board will objectively evaluate every opportunity to maximize shareholder value. Stripe, valued near $159 billion, would gain PayPal's 439 million active accounts and Braintree's merchant footprint, creating a combined $3 trillion payment platform. PayPal closed at $61.66, up 1.77% on the day, with a market cap of $52.7 billion. Polymarket prediction markets saw the implied probability of a Stripe acquisition of PayPal jump from 18.3% to 38.1%.