Sources familiar with the matter have disclosed that a consortium comprising the payment processor Stripe and the private equity firm Advent International has submitted a proposal to acquire PayPal Holdings Inc. in its entirety, valuing the fintech giant at approximately $53 billion.

Multiple insiders indicated that the offer, which was presented recently, proposes a price of $60.50 per share. This represents a premium of roughly 60% over PayPal's closing price this past Friday.

It remains uncertain whether PayPal will entertain this acquisition bid, according to the sources. The company is currently under the leadership of its new Chief Executive Officer, Enrique Lores, who is in the early stages of implementing a turnaround and recovery strategy.

PayPal's stock price, which soared above $300 during the pandemic in 2021, giving the company a peak market capitalization exceeding $280 billion, has since declined to historically low levels. As of last Friday's close, its total market value stood at only about $42 billion.

Following an initial report on the acquisition interest, PayPal's stock surged more than 18% during early trading on Wednesday.

Lores, the former CEO of HP, officially took the helm at PayPal in March of this year, shortly after the company issued a profit warning. Management attributed the weak performance to sluggish growth in its core branded checkout products and internal operational inefficiencies.

Since his appointment, Lores has unveiled a restructuring plan aimed at revitalizing growth by organizing the company into three primary business segments: the core checkout solutions and PayPal business, consumer financial services including Venmo, and payment services alongside cryptocurrency operations.

Company leadership has stated plans to reduce costs by at least $1.5 billion over the next two to three years. A separate report in May indicated that PayPal intends to cut its workforce by 20% over a similar timeframe.

Lores has expressed the view that PayPal has underinvested in its technology platform, falling behind competing financial services firms. His strategy involves streamlining management layers, increasing investment in artificial intelligence, and establishing the company as a technological leader in the industry.

Stripe is a privately-held payment processing company, with Sequoia Capital among its investors. It was founded by brothers Patrick and John Collison and earlier this year achieved a valuation as high as $159 billion.

Advent International, headquartered in Boston, manages assets exceeding $90 billion and focuses its investments across five core sectors: business and financial services, healthcare, consumer, industrial, and technology.