Stripe and Advent Offer $53 Billion for Paypal: Here's What It Means for Crypto Payments

Payments processor Stripe and private equity firm Advent International have offered to acquire PayPal for more than $53 billion, according to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg. The bid of $60.50 per share represents a 28% premium over PayPal’s closing price on Tuesday. The offer is backed by approximately $50 billion in committed bank financing, with Stripe and Advent holding equal stakes. The suitors have stated they do not intend to break up the company.

A merger would unite two major players in stablecoin-based payments. Stripe has recently built a crypto payments infrastructure, including the acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin orchestration platform, for $1.1 billion, and the launch of Tempo, a blockchain focused on payments. Stripe also backs Open USD, a fee-free stablecoin developed by a consortium including Coinbase and Ripple, and plans to make it the default stablecoin on its platform.

PayPal issues its own stablecoin, PYUSD, and offers crypto buying, selling, and checkout services to hundreds of millions of users. Combining PYUSD with Stripe’s infrastructure would create a single company covering stablecoin issuance, orchestration, settlement, and consumer checkout.

The deal faces several hurdles. PayPal’s board has not yet accepted the offer, and there is no guarantee that talks will lead to a transaction. Antitrust regulators may also scrutinize the merger of two of the largest online payment processors in the Western world. Furthermore, the $53 billion bid highlights PayPal’s decline from its pandemic-era peak valuation of over $350 billion. The board must weigh a rich cash premium against surrendering the company’s independence.

Regardless of the outcome, the bid confirms that stablecoin-based payments infrastructure has become a highly sought-after asset in the financial industry.

Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/stripe-advent-53-billion-paypal-offer-crypto/