Stripe and Advent International have revived talks to acquire PayPal for $60.50 a share, a deal that would value the payments company at $53 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing unnamed sources. The negotiations, which stalled after PayPal rejected the same offer in July, could conclude within weeks.
The offer that wouldn't die
The July bid landed while PayPal chief executive Enrique Lores was three months into a turnaround he began after joining from HP in March. PayPal declined to engage at the time. Stripe, for its part, said it does not comment on rumors or speculation. The Journal’s latest reporting suggests neither side walked away.
Lores's restructuring clock
Lores used April to reorganize the business into three units: checkout solutions and PayPal, consumer financial services including Venmo, and payment services and crypto. In May he told investors the company would “recommit to the fundamentals,” a phrase that included “becoming a technology company again.” The sale talks are unfolding alongside that plan, not after it.
The workforce math
The turnaround also carries a cost-saving program expected to cut headcount by 20 percent over the next two to three years. PayPal ballooned during the pandemic e-commerce surge; the reduction is sized to the post-boom reality. Whether a new owner keeps that schedule is an open question.
What happens next
A deal would hand Stripe a consumer network it has never built and give Advent a fintech platform at a discount to 2021 highs. For Lores, a sale would end the turnaround before it proves itself. The Journal’s sources say an agreement could come together in the coming weeks, if the price holds.