SAN JOSE, Calif.— Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International have ended their effort to acquire PayPal Holdings after previously offering $60.50 per share, or approximately $53 billion, for the payments company, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The decision follows previous CUToday.info coverage that PayPal had reopened negotiations with Stripe and Advent over a possible higher price after concluding their original bid was insufficient. Reuters previously reported PayPal’s board believed the proposal undervalued the company and raised financing and regulatory concerns, even though the consortium had assembled approximately $50 billion in bank financing.
PayPal shares fell about 13% in Friday trading following news that the prospective buyers had walked away, according to Reuters. The takeover interest and stronger-than-expected second-quarter results had helped PayPal’s shares rise more than 40% during the quarter, giving the company a market value of approximately $52.6 billion before the reported withdrawal.
The collapse puts renewed attention on CEO Enrique Lores’ effort to revive PayPal as it faces growing competition from Apple Pay, Google Pay and other digital-payment providers. Bloomberg said Stripe and Advent could return with another offer if circumstances change.