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(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – Rumours of a massive 53 billion bid by Advent and Stripe for PayPal are giving the digital payments sector a boost. So, whilst the San Jose-based giant soars in US pre-market trading, in Milan Nexi takes the lead on the FTSE MIB. Adyen in Amsterdam and Worldline in Paris are also on the rise.
Specifically, according to reports to Reuters from sources close to the matter, the payments company Stripe and the private equity firm Advent International have submitted a joint bid to acquire PayPal Holdings at $60.50 per share, in a deal that would value the payments company at over $53 billion. Submitted in early July, the bid represents a premium of around 28 per cent on the previous day’s closing price and is expected to be backed by approximately $50 billion in secured bank financing.
Following initial talks dating back to last April, negotiations are, according to sources, still ongoing, with Stripe and Advent aiming to become joint owners of PayPal with an equal stake, without splitting up the company. Should the deal go ahead, the offer would be just the latest in a series of major transactions in the digital payments market, which is grappling with rapid changes in financial technology and the rise of AI.
In 2025, for example, Global Payments acquired its rival Worldpay from FIS and the private equity firm GTCR for $24.25 billion. Furthermore, Mastercard is considering selling a majority stake in its UK-based subsidiary Vocalink, which operates in the payments sector, to UK banks. Paytech companies are, in fact, increasingly seeking to expand through mergers and acquisitions, in order to gain exposure to rapidly growing segments such as cross-border and business-to-business payments.
In this context, a potential merger with Stripe – one of the most valuable privately-owned companies in the sector, valued at $159 billion in a recent deal – could be beneficial for PayPal. In recent years, the company has had to contend with a slowdown in growth and intensified competition, which have wiped out much of the value it gained during the pandemic. Over the past 12 months, its share price has fallen by over 40%, bringing its market capitalisation to around 36 billion (having peaked at 360 billion in 2021).
