PayPal Shares Plunge as Stripe-Advent Buyout Bid Collapses

PayPal shares plunged sharply in premarket trading on Friday, August 28, 2026, after a consortium led by private equity firm Advent International and payments giant Stripe abandoned its pursuit of the digital payments company. The collapse of the deal, which would have been one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history, erased a significant portion of the stock's recent gains fueled by acquisition speculation. The consortium had offered $60.50 per share for PayPal, a proposal that valued the company at approximately $53 billion. This represented a roughly 28% premium over PayPal's share price in mid-July when the bid was first reported. However, PayPal's board of directors rejected the offer as insufficient, and negotiations for a potentially higher price ultimately failed. According to reports, the consortium decided not to sweeten its bid and walked away from the transaction. The news sent PayPal's stock tumbling. Shares fell as much as 18% in premarket activity, trading near $50.61, down from a previous close of $61.47.