Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International are in talks to acquire PayPal in a deal that could value the payments company at around 53 billion dollars. The two parties had previously put forward an offer of 60.50 dollars per share, which PayPal rejected as insufficient. Discussions are now focused on a potentially higher figure, though no agreement has been reached and there is no guarantee that one will be.

The timing is notable. PayPal has been under considerable pressure to reignite growth and sharpen its competitive position in a payments market that has grown significantly more crowded in recent years. The company has faced mounting questions from investors about how it plans to accelerate revenue and defend its market share against newer, faster-moving rivals.

Stripe would stand to gain considerably from such an acquisition. PayPal brings with it a vast global customer base and a well-embedded payments infrastructure that would represent a substantial expansion of Stripe’s current footprint.

For Stripe, which has long operated as a behind-the-scenes infrastructure provider for online businesses, absorbing PayPal would mark a very different kind of move. PayPal is a recognised consumer brand with deep penetration across e-commerce and peer-to-peer payments. Adding that reach to Stripe’s existing merchant-facing capabilities would create a combined entity of considerable scale.

Advent International’s involvement adds a private-equity dimension to what is already an unusually large and complex proposed transaction. Whether the consortium can agree a price that satisfies PayPal’s board remains the central question. Both sides appear willing to continue discussions, but the gap between where talks began and where they need to land is not insignificant.

No deal terms have been finalised and the situation remains fluid. If a transaction does come together, it would rank among the more consequential consolidations the fintech sector has seen in some time.