• Stripe and Advent International offered $60.50 a share (about $53 billion total) for PayPal on July 15, 2026, TechCrunch and The Wall Street Journal reported.
• PayPal's board viewed the offer as undervaluing the company and flagged regulatory and financing hurdles, Reuters reported in an exclusive citing origins.
• The bid paired roughly $50 billion of committed bank financing from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley with $17 billion of equity from Stripe and Advent themselves, per Reuters.
• The consortium had reportedly modeled an antitrust remedy that would carve out PayPal's Braintree unit and route it to Advent, which could combine it with its existing Nuvei investment, Reuters reported.
• Bloomberg reported on August 28 that the consortium abandoned the pursuit; PayPal shares fell more than 13% that day, though a future approach remains possible.

PayPal shares fell more than 13% on August 28, 2026, after Bloomberg News reported that Stripe and Advent International had abandoned their pursuit of the payments company, ending a standoff that had run since a reported $60.50-a-share, roughly $53 billion offer on July 15. PayPal's board had called that price inadequate and cited regulatory and financing hurdles, and the two sides reportedly never closed the gap. None of the three companies has confirmed the report, so the walkaway is reported, not final.

The bid, the rejection, the reported walkaway

Stripe and Advent International offered $60.50 a share for PayPal on July 15, 2026 — valuing the company near $53 billion — TechCrunch and The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. PayPal's board found the price inadequate and flagged regulatory and financing hurdles rather than naming a counter-price, according to a Reuters exclusive. On August 28, Bloomberg reported the consortium had abandoned the pursuit; PayPal shares fell more than 13% that day, giving back much of the gain the stock had built on acquisition speculation since mid-July.

A financing structure built for antitrust as much as for scale

The offer wasn't a simple cash check. Reuters reported roughly $50 billion of committed bank financing arranged by JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, on top of $17 billion of equity from Stripe and Advent themselves, with the pair set to own PayPal equally. Reuters also reported the consortium had considered an antitrust remedy that would carve out PayPal's Braintree processing unit and hand it to Advent, which could combine it with its existing Nuvei stake — using the private-equity partner's balance sheet as both financing and a divestiture landing spot.

What it signals for fintech dealmaking

Had it closed, this would have ranked among the largest fintech takeovers on record — a strategic-plus-private-equity consortium taking a NASDAQ-listed payments incumbent private. Its reported collapse shows that even a heavily financed bid with a pre-modeled antitrust workaround can stall if the target board holds out on price. The episode still leaves a reference range on the table for the payments segment: a $60.50-a-share offer the board called too low, per Reuters — a number other large-cap payments companies and their advisers will now have in view.

What deal and compliance teams should watch next

Bloomberg reported the consortium could return with a revised approach if conditions change, so the walkaway is reported, not confirmed as final. The Braintree-to-Nuvei carve-out idea, as reported by Reuters, is worth tracking regardless of this deal's fate — it is a reusable template for how a private-equity partner might be used to pre-clear payments-sector antitrust review in future roll-ups. Meanwhile, PayPal's turnaround case under CEO Enrique Lores, in the role since March 1, 2026 per the company's own announcement, is now the thesis investors are pricing without a takeover premium underneath it.