PayPal attracts takeover interest after stock slide, Bloomberg News reports
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A smartphone with the PayPal logo is placed on a laptop in this illustration taken on July 14, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Feb 23 (Reuters) - Digital payments company PayPal is attracting takeover interest from potential buyers after a stock slide, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The payments firm has fielded meetings with banks amid unsolicited interest from suitors, the report said, adding that at least one large rival is looking at the whole company, while some other suitors are only interested in certain PayPal assets.
Buyer interest in PayPal is still at a preliminary stage and may not lead to a transaction, the Bloomberg report said.
PayPal, which has a market capitalization of more than $38 billion, declined to comment on the report. Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Shares of the company were last up 7% in afternoon trading. They have lost about 85% of their value since hitting a record high in mid-2021.
Earlier this month, PayPal replaced CEO Alex Chriss, who was appointed to steer the payments firm through slowing growth and intensifying competition. It issued a weak profit forecast for 2026 that fell well short of Wall Street expectations.
The company's board, which named Chair Enrique Lores as its new president and CEO, had said the pace of change and execution under Chriss was not in line with its expectations.
PayPal also flagged weaker retail spending as shoppers, squeezed by elevated interest rates, persistently high cost of living and signs of a softening labor market, cut back on discretionary spending and focus on essentials.
Investors have feared that the push by Big Tech firms such as Apple and Google into PayPal's core payments business could chip away at its market share, despite its position as the legacy leader.
PayPal saw a surge in use during the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers shifted to digital payments, but growth has since slowed and the company has struggled to sustain that momentum despite a multi-year turnaround plan.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Arun Koyyur)
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