Stripe and Advent Bid $53 Billion for PayPal as Investors Call the Price Too Low

Stripe and private equity firm Advent International have offered to take PayPal private in a $53 billion deal, proposing $60.50 a share in a bid PayPal's board is set to review as soon as July 20.

What happened

The joint proposal, reported by Reuters on July 15, values PayPal at a 28% premium to its prior closing price and includes roughly $50 billion in committed bank financing. Under the terms, Stripe and Advent would each hold an equal stake in the combined company, with no plans to break PayPal apart.

PayPal shares jumped 17.2% on the news, closing at $55.52, a level still well below the $60.50 offer price. PayPal is working with Goldman Sachs and Evercore as advisers, and the two sides are reportedly aiming to reach an agreement by the end of July.

Key numbers from the bid:

• $60.50 per share, a 28% premium to PayPal's prior close
• $53 billion total deal value, backed by roughly $50 billion in bank financing
• July 20 target date for the PayPal board to formally weigh the offer

Why it matters

The clearest sign of investor doubt came from Michael Burry, the investor known for shorting the 2008 housing market, who called the offer "simply too low." Burry values PayPal at 15 times his estimate of the company's owner earnings, putting a no-premium fair value at $75 to $80 a share. Once a control premium is added, a range typically applied when a buyer takes over a company's cash flows and decision-making, he puts a fair takeover price between $75 and $115, with his own estimate closer to $100.

For any investor holding PayPal directly, the gap between the offer price and the closing price is instructive. A stock can trade below both its pre-deal level and its likely takeover value while a bid is still contested, because the market is pricing in the odds of a higher counter-offer, a rejection, or a renegotiated deal. Prediction market Polymarket puts the odds of this deal closing at roughly 80%, which implies traders expect either the price or the structure to shift before a final vote.

Context and what to watch next

PayPal's board meets on July 20 to consider the bid. A rejection, or a counter-demand for a higher per-share price, is a live scenario given how far Burry's estimates sit above the current offer. A completed deal would rank among the largest private-equity-backed take-privates of a US-listed payments company, reshaping ownership at one of Visa, Mastercard, and American Express's largest fintech rivals.

Investors holding PayPal through funds or direct positions have little say in the outcome beyond the board's own process. Portfolio tools that flag which individual holdings are tied up in a live takeover bid give investors an earlier read on how much of their total return now depends on deal terms rather than daily trading.