Stripe-Advent Consortium Abandons PayPal Acquisition Bid
PayPal's (PYPL) stock plummeted by over 13% in premarket trading on Friday after Stripe and Advent International officially terminated their acquisition bid for the company.
The consortium had offered $60.50 per share, valuing PayPal at approximately $53 billion. This is a significant decrease from the company's 2021 valuation high of around $360 billion.
PayPal's leadership team, led by CEO Enrique Lores, had previously dismissed the acquisition proposal as insufficient. Thomas Hayes, a financial analyst at Great Hill Capital, commended the board for rejecting the offer, stating that it represented less than nine times free cash flow and was undervalued.
The restructuring efforts under Lores have been driving PayPal's transformation strategy, which includes three separate divisions: checkout, Venmo, and payments and crypto. The company has also increased its 2026 profit projections and detailed efficiency initiatives as part of this effort.