Stripe is reportedly eyeing deal to buy some or all of PayPal

Source: TechCrunch

Background

Stripe is considering a deal to buy some or all of PayPal Holdings, sources told Bloomberg, though talks are still in very early stages and the deal may not happen.

Valuation and Tender Offer

The news comes the same day Stripe released its annual letter, giving updates on the business. Stripe is making a tender offer that values the company at $159 billion, a 74 % increase from last year. Investors buying employee shares this time include Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital. Stripe will also buy back some stock, the letter said.

The latest valuation again makes Stripe one of the industry’s most valuable private companies. Based in Dublin, Stripe’s co‑founder and CEO, Patrick Collison, told CNBC that going public was not on his list of priorities. (See the interview here.)

Potential Acquisition of PayPal

PayPal Holdings (which includes the flagship product PayPal and its services, as well as other companies like Venmo) is currently a publicly traded company, with a market cap of around $40 billion.

PayPal’s stock rose slightly after reports of Stripe’s interest in an acquisition. Stripe declined to comment.