Markets
Advent and Stripe Walked Away From a $53B PayPal Buyout, and PayPal Dropped 12%
Bloomberg reported on August 28 that the Advent International and Stripe consortium abandoned its pursuit of PayPal, a deal that would have been one of the largest leveraged buyouts ever; Reuters confirmed the same day and PayPal shares fell 12% in morning trading. The offer was $60.50 per share, about $53 billion, against the roughly $360 billion PayPal commanded in 2021, and PayPal's board had called it inadequate while flagging regulatory and financing hurdles. For anyone tracking who consolidates the payments layer as AI agents start initiating transactions, the read is that Stripe just declined to buy distribution at a 85% discount to peak rather than build it.
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