Advent and Stripe abandon $53bn PayPal takeover

Advent International and Stripe have reportedly halted their bid to take PayPal private, ending a proposed $53 billion acquisition, according to a Bloomberg report. The consortium had proposed to pay $60.50 per PayPal share in July, but has now decided to walk away from the deal. The bid was rejected following opposition from PayPal's board, which deemed the offer insufficient and raised concerns over the financing and regulatory obstacles.

The deal would have valued PayPal at over $53 billion, representing a significant discount to its peak post-pandemic valuation of $360 billion in 2021. Advent, Stripe, and PayPal had initially approached Block in April, but Block later withdrew from the consortium before the final proposal was submitted. For Advent, the transaction would have been a major private equity investment in the payments sector, while Stripe aimed to expand its position in digital payments.

The scale of the proposed deal also shed light on the financing challenges associated with large-scale take-private transactions, particularly those facing regulatory scrutiny and uncertainty about the target's future growth. PayPal's board had not formally accepted the offer before the consortium chose to abandon the pursuit.