Stripe Plans Another Employee Share Buyback as IPO Speculation Continues

Hey FinTech Fanatic!

FinTech giant Stripe is planning to buy back shares from its employees once again, keeping its potential initial public offering (IPO) in the spotlight.

This upcoming employee tender offer will be funded by Stripe's own resources, unlike previous buybacks that relied on external funding, according to a source familiar with the matter who requested anonymity due to the private nature of the information. The Information first reported on this development on Thursday.

In a related move last month, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital offered to purchase Stripe shares at $27.51 each, valuing the company at $70 billion. This is a drop from Stripe’s peak valuation of $95 billion during the pandemic but slightly below the $65 billion valuation reported earlier this year. The source also revealed that Stripe had approximately $615 million in free cash flow at the end of the second quarter.

Despite ongoing speculation, Stripe co-founder John Collison stated in June that the company is in no hurry to go public, emphasizing that many companies have rushed into IPOs prematurely. Stripe continues to face stiff competition from public payments giants like PayPal and Adyen, which are also vying for market dominance.

Cheers,

Marcel

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