Advent, Stripe consortium is said to drop pursuit of PayPal, Bloomberg News reports

A consortium comprising Advent buyout firm and payment processor Stripe has reportedly terminated its pursuit of fintech leader PayPal, according to Bloomberg News. The news outlet cited anonymous sources for the information. PayPal and Stripe have declined to comment, while Advent could not be reached for comment due to their business hours.

The payments company, once the pinnacle of American financial technology, was reportedly offered $60.50 per share by Stripe and Advent International, valuing it at over $53 billion, as reported by Reuters in July. This offer represents a fraction of PayPal's valuation of around $360 billion during the pandemic years in 2021. PayPal's board deemed the takeover bid as insufficient, citing regulatory and financing obstacles, according to previous Reuters reports.

PayPal has not formally responded to the proposal. The consortium's bid comes as PayPal, established in the late 1990s, has faced challenges in recent years competing with rivals like Apple Pay and Google Pay, with management attempting to revitalize its declining share price amidst stagnating growth.