Payments provider Stripe has partnered with private equity group Advent International to launch a joint bid for PayPal that values the company at around $35 billion, the Financial Times has reported.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the paper revealed that Stripe, founded by brothers John and Patrick Collison 17 years ago, offered $60.50 a share earlier in the month.

This represents an approximately 28 per cent premium on the company’s share price at close Tuesday, though shares have risen to around $55 on pre-market trading since the news was broken. The offer is backed by $50 billion in committed bank financing, the people told the FT.

However, this is still a significant discount on the valuation at which the company was trading just a year ago, and there is no indication that PayPal have engaged with the offer, the people said. They added that the bid follows an earlier expression of interest, and that PayPal have thus far been reluctant to engage with the brothers.

The people told the FT it is unlikely that the deal will be considered at the current valuation as chief executive Enrique Lores, appointed earlier this year, pursues a turnaround for the company.

Lores replaced Alex Chriss after the company fell short of expectations for a number of years and shares fell over 80 per cent from its 2021 high.

PayPal and Advent declined to comment when approached by the FT. Stripe did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the same.

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