PayPal: Stripe and Advent International make a $53 billion bid (FT)

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The payments start-up Stripe and the private equity group Advent International have launched a joint bid to acquire New York-listed PayPal, in a deal that would value the company at around $53 billion. Stripe, led by brothers Patrick and John Collison, has tabled an offer of $60.50 per share, according to two people familiar with the matter who were quoted by the Financial Times. However, the offer price represents a significant discount compared with PayPal’s valuation a year ago, and there are no signs that PayPal has responded. The offer represents a premium of around 28 per cent on PayPal’s closing price yesterday and is backed by $50 billion in bank financing that has already been secured, according to the sources.

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