A consortium led by buyout firm Advent International and payment processor Stripe has ended its pursuit of acquiring PayPal Holdings Inc., withdrawing a bid valued at over $50 billion, around $53 billion, sources confirmed on August 27 and 28, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].

PayPal shares dropped between 14% and 16% in after-hours and premarket trading following the announcement [1, 4]. The consortium's offer, reportedly around $60.50 per share, valued PayPal slightly above its market capitalization of $52.6 billion at the time of takeover talks [1, 2, 3, 4].

PayPal, founded in the late 1990s as an early leader in digital payments, has struggled in recent years to modernize its technologies and retain market share amid competition from Apple Pay, Google Pay, and others [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. During the 2021 pandemic stock boom, PayPal reached a peak valuation of nearly $320-356 billion [4, 5].

In March 2026, PayPal replaced CEO Alex Chriss with Enrique Lores, who has since reorganized the company into focused business segments—checkout, Venmo, and payments/crypto—and set distinct revenue targets for each to improve investor clarity. Lores said he would "set specific financial goals for PayPal, change how the payments company reports earnings and assign each line of business a specific revenue target to give investors a better sense of their potential" [1, 5].

According to The Wall Street Journal, PayPal found the consortium's initial $53 billion offer insufficient and negotiations occurred to seek a higher price before talks collapsed [1, 2, 3, 4]. The consortium chose to walk away but might consider pursuing a bid again if circumstances change [1, 2, 3, 5].

A potential merger had the prospect of lowering Stripe's reliance on Visa and Mastercard while enabling integration of PayPal's Venmo and crypto capabilities [5].

The bid emerged after Bloomberg reported in February 2026 that Stripe was exploring acquisitions of parts or all of PayPal amid a slump in PayPal’s stock price [1, 2, 3]. In July 2026, Advent and Stripe reportedly made the $53 billion offer when PayPal shares were near historic lows [4, 5]. By August, both parties negotiated over price amid rising PayPal stock following stronger quarterly earnings, which had boosted PayPal’s stock more than 40% this quarter [1, 2, 3, 5].

The consortium officially abandoned its bid on August 27 or 28, 2026, marking an end to months of discussions [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].