stripe and private equity firm advent international have reportedly submitted a joint bid to acquire paypal in a deal valued at approximately $53.4 billion. The offer was submitted earlier this month and is backed by roughly $50 billion in committed bank financing. Under the proposal, stripe and advent would jointly own paypal, with each holding an equal stake.

this isn’t the first time stripe has been linked with a potential acquisition of the payments giant. earlier reports in february suggested the company had been exploring a possible takeover and was engaged in preliminary discussions, although no formal proposal emerged at the time.

if completed, the acquisition would unite two of the biggest names in digital payments. paypal serves around 440 million active accounts and handles roughly $1.8 trillion in payment volume during 2025. meanwhile, businesses use stripe to process $1.9 trillion in payments over the same period. plus, stripe’s valuation climbed to $159 billion earlier this year.

paypal has yet to respond publicly to the offer. the potential deal comes at a pivotal time for paypal. ceo enrique lores took over in march following a company profit warning. since then, there have been plans to cut at least $1.5 billion in costs over the next two to three years as paypal looks to return to stronger growth.

reports have also suggested the company intends to reduce its workforce by around 20%. paypal, stripe and advent international did not immediately respond to our requests for comment.