YEREVAN, July 15. /ARKA/ Fintech startup Stripe Inc. and investment firm Advent International have made an offer to acquire the payment service PayPal Holdings Inc., valuing it at over $53 billion. This was reported by Finmarket, citing informed sources.
According to sources, Stripe and Advent are offering to pay $60.5 per PayPal share, which is 28% higher than the company's stock price at the close of trading on Tuesday.
The buyers want to own PayPal on an equal basis and do not plan to split the business, the agency's sources say.
Founded in the late 1990s, PayPal is considered one of the world's first electronic payment services. Since then, the company has lost its leading position, facing competition from similar services by Apple Inc. (SPB: AAPL) and Alphabet Inc. (SPB: GOOG). In May, media reported that the company plans to cut its workforce by about 20% over the next two to three years to reduce costs. Since the beginning of last year, PayPal's market capitalization has fallen by 40%.
Stripe develops software for payment processing and infrastructure for online business. It is one of the most successful fintech startups in recent years, with a valuation of nearly $160 billion as of February.
