PayPal is back at the negotiating table with Stripe and private equity firm Advent. The PayPal sale talks have picked up again after stalling in July. A deal could come together within weeks, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal that cites unnamed sources.
The talks follow an offer Stripe and Advent made in July: $60.50 a share, valuing PayPal at roughly $53 billion. PayPal rejected that bid at the time. Negotiations, however, reportedly never fully broke down, and the two sides have kept talking since. PayPal declined to comment on the report. A Stripe spokesperson said the company doesn’t “comment on rumors or speculation.” Neither side has confirmed a revised price or a timeline for signing anything.
Why the PayPal sale talks are resurfacing now
The discussions are unfolding as PayPal CEO Enrique Lores works through a turnaround plan for the company. Lores joined PayPal in March after years at HP, where he served as chief executive. In April, he reorganized the business into three units: checkout and PayPal, consumer financial services and Venmo, and payment services and crypto. He also shook up the executive team, replacing several senior leaders as part of the shift.
A month later, Lores told investors PayPal would “recommit to the fundamentals,” which included “becoming a technology company again.” The plan also includes cost cuts. PayPal expects to reduce its workforce by 20% over the next two to three years. That reduction will touch a large share of its current staff. The company has already trimmed roles across several departments this year as part of that effort.
A company built by Silicon Valley names, now struggling
PayPal was founded in 1998 by a group of entrepreneurs who went on to become some of Silicon Valley’s most recognizable figures. The founders include Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Max Levchin, and Luke Nosek. The company grew rapidly during the pandemic, when online shopping surged. Growth has slowed considerably since that e-commerce boom faded.
Stripe, founded by brothers Patrick and John Collison, has grown into one of the most valuable private companies in the payments industry. It processes transactions for businesses ranging from small online shops to large enterprises. A combination with PayPal would bring together two of the largest names in online payments. It would also give Advent a significant foothold in a sector it has targeted for investment in recent years.
PayPal still handles billions of dollars in transactions each quarter through its core checkout product and Venmo. Its stock, however, has traded well below its pandemic-era highs for several years. A sale to Stripe and Advent would mark one of the largest deals in payments history if it closes. The companies involved have offered no confirmation beyond the earlier, rejected offer. For now, the talks remain unofficial, and both PayPal and Stripe are declining to discuss specifics publicly.