Stripe, Advent in talks to acquire PayPal for $53B

Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International are in active negotiations to acquire PayPal ↗ 2.94% for roughly $53 billion, the Wall Street Journal News Corp ↗ 1.11% reported Friday in an exclusive, a deal that would reshape the global payments industry by uniting two of its most dominant players.wsj

The consortium offered $60.50 per share in July, which PayPal's board rejected as insufficient, according to people familiar with the matter. Negotiations over a higher price are ongoing, and sources told the Journal a deal could materialize within weeks.investing+1

A Role Reversal in Payments

The proposed transaction represents a striking reversal in the payments landscape. Stripe, the developer-focused fintech that spent the past decade eroding PayPal's merchant market share, would take an equal stake alongside Advent in the combined company. Reuters, also citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the two buyers would not break up PayPal's business.investing

The acquisition would combine PayPal's consumer payment network with Stripe's merchant infrastructure at a time when both face intensifying competition from Apple ↗ 0.02% Pay and Google Alphabet Inc. ↗ 1.15% Pay.bizjournals

Financing and Antitrust Questions

The deal appears within Stripe's financial reach. The privately held fintech carried a formal valuation of $159 billion as of February 2026, with secondary-market pricing implying a value approaching $199 billion. How Advent and Stripe would split the funding burden of an all-cash offer exceeding $53 billion has not been disclosed.investing

Combining two of the largest forces in online payments would face serious antitrust scrutiny in both the United States and Europe. PayPal has not publicly commented on the report.investing

Market Reaction

PayPal shares rose on Friday afternoon following the Journal's report, extending a rally that saw the stock surge more than 32% in July — making it the third-best performer in the S&P 500 that month — largely on earlier takeover speculation. Jim Cramer, speaking on CNBC's Comcast Corporation ↗ 0.09% Mad Money on August 11, noted that PayPal "roared because PayPal apparently got a takeover overture from the giant private fintech company called Stripe," adding: "They haven't agreed to anything, but it hasn't been shot down."investing