American payment service Stripe and private equity firm Advent International are considering a joint acquisition of PayPal for more than $53 billion, Reuters reported, citing sources. The merger between Stripe and PayPal would create the world's largest payment processor with annual revenue of about $1.9 trillion.
According to a proposal presented earlier in July, the companies intend to own the payment service equally. The share price at which Stripe and Advent International are considering acquiring PayPal is $60.50, which is 28% more than the last closing price.
PayPal was founded in the late 1990s as an early player in the digital payments market. In recent years, the company has faced slowing growth and increased competition amid the rise of Apple Pay and Google Pay. This year, the company's market cap was $36 billion, a tenth of what it was five years ago. Despite the setback, PayPal has more than 430 million customer accounts, allowing Stripe, which is primarily aimed at merchants, to establish direct relationships with consumers.