A buyout consortium led by Advent International and Stripe has dropped its pursuit of fintech pioneer PayPal, according to reporting published on August 27, 2026. The group had previously offered $60.50 a share, valuing the company at over $53 billion, before walking away.
PayPal stock fell sharply following reports that an Advent-Stripe consortium has dropped their efforts to acquire the digital payments giant. Privately held payments processor Stripe and private equity firm Advent International abandoned the discussions after months of pursuit, according to reporting by Bloomberg cited by Reuters.
The $53 Billion Bid and the Pandemic-Era Peak
The dropped consortium proposal valued PayPal at more than $53 billion based on a bid of $60.50 a share. That figure represented a dramatic discount from PayPal’s historical valuation as a pandemic-era darling, when the company commanded roughly $360 billion in 2021.
PayPal, Stripe, and Advent declined to comment on the Bloomberg report, while Advent could not immediately be reached outside regular business hours. Block originally approached PayPal alongside Stripe and Advent in April, but exited the consortium before the final proposal was submitted.
Regulatory Hurdles and Board Resistance
The company never formally responded to the buyout offer.
The abandoned acquisition attempt unfolded as PayPal wrestled with intensifying competition from major digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Founded in the late 1990s, the fintech pioneer has experienced slowing growth and a flagging share price in recent years.
Internal Turnaround Efforts Under Enrique Lores
Management has pursued an aggressive internal restructuring to revive the business. Following his arrival in March, Enrique Lores initiated a sweeping turnaround exercise aimed at simplifying operations and sharpening the company’s focus on growth.
As part of that reorganization, the company split its operations into three distinct units covering checkout, the consumer financial services platform Venmo, alongside payments and crypto, accompanied by a series of broader management changes.
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