Stripe and private‑equity firm Advent International are negotiating to acquire PayPal, the Wall Street Journal reports. They offered $60.50 per share in July, valuing the company at $53 billion, though the bid was initially rejected. PayPal’s stock was trading near historic lows, roughly $40 billion at the time, a steep drop from its pandemic‑era peak. The parties now discuss a higher per‑share price and could finalize the deal in the coming weeks if talks succeed.

If closed, Stripe and Advent would own PayPal jointly, with no intention to split the company. That would make Stripe one of the world’s largest payment platforms, handling about $3.7 trillion in annual transactions. PayPal’s new CEO, Enrique Lores, has reorganized the firm into checkout, Venmo, and payments‑and‑crypto units. A merger could reduce PayPal’s reliance on Visa and MasterCard and allow Stripe to integrate Venmo, the checkout engine, and crypto services.

The outcome remains uncertain, but a partnership could reshape the global payments landscape, combining Stripe’s tech stack with PayPal’s extensive user base and diversified services.