Advent and Stripe Abandon $50 Billion Takeover Bid for PayPal, Sending Shares Tumbling

PayPal shares fell sharply on August 28 after Bloomberg reported that Advent International and Stripe have walked away from their roughly $50-53 billion pursuit of the payments company. The consortium had originally made a takeover approach in mid-July 2026, with reports at the time valuing the bid at around $53 billion, but negotiations subsequently stalled before the two parties withdrew entirely. PayPal stock had been propped up by takeover speculation in recent months, meaning the company must now pursue a turnaround independently.

Analysts at Mizuho and Loop Capital cut their price targets on PayPal following the news, with Mizuho flagging three key risks: commoditization of PayPal's branded checkout, the threat of market share losses in Germany, and potential competition from X Money. The collapse removes a significant premium catalyst from the stock at a time when PayPal's market capitalization had already been in decline.