PYPL Stock Rises After Report Says Stripe And Advent May Be Ready To Raise Their PayPal Bid

• The consortium first approached PayPal in early April before making the $60.50-a-share proposal in July.
• A deal could come together in the coming weeks, though there is no guarantee the parties will reach an agreement.
• Stocktwits retail sentiment for PayPal improved to ‘neutral’ from ‘bearish,’ with traders speculating about a potential buyout price above $60.50.

Shares of PayPal Holdings (PYPL) ended Friday’s trading session nearly 2% higher after a report stated that the payments company was in advanced talks to sell itself to a group including Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International.

At the time of writing in after-hours trading, PYPL stock was marginally higher at 0.07%.

Stripe, Advent Negotiate Potentially Higher Price

Stripe and Advent had offered $60.50 a share in July, a price PayPal considered too low, and the two sides have since been negotiating a potentially higher price, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

It is possible a deal could come together in the coming weeks, though there are no guarantees the parties will reach an agreement, the report said.

The July proposal came after an initial approach made in early April, reported Reuters. Stripe and Advent hadn’t received a response from PayPal and were seeking to advance discussions in July.

Deal Could Create Payments Giant

Combining Stripe and PayPal, the most widely used payment platforms for internet merchants, would create one of the world's largest online payment companies, processing some $3.7 trillion in annual payment volume, according to the Reuters report.

After taking over in March, PayPal CEO Enrique Lores started a sweeping turnaround exercise to simplify the payments provider and sharpen its focus on growth. In April, the company split its operations into three units covering checkout, consumer financial services Venmo, and payments and crypto, while making a series of management changes.

PYPL Stock: Stocktwits Retail Sentiment

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for PYPL improved to “neutral” from “bearish” in the past 24 hours, while message volume remained “low.”

Retail traders were actively speculating about a potential PayPal acquisition, with some looking beyond the previously rejected $60.50-a-share offer.

One trader expressed optimism that a buyout could be coming and hoped the price would reach $85 or more.

Another trader took a more uncertain view, asking fellow users for a “reasonable clue” about what the stock price could be in a potential buyout.

A third trader said PayPal’s roughly 855 million shares would require a $100-a-share offer for the deal to make sense.

PYPL stock has gained around 3% year-to-date.

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