Remember when PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL) was reportedly interested in acquiring Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) late last year? Good thing that didn't work out. The two stocks have both tanked since then during the bear market of 2022, with each down about 70% from all-time highs reached during the previous summer. At the time, Pinterest was valued at upwards of $40 billion, so PayPal would have ended up egregiously overpaying given everything that has ensued since news of a potential deal first leaked. Pinterest is now just a $15 billion company.

However, both stocks rallied following second-quarter 2022 earnings after it was revealed that private equity firm Elliott Management has taken a large equity stake in PayPal and Pinterest. Will a merger deal be back on the table soon?

Elliott Management is no stranger to mergers and acquisitions. For example, the private-equity company made headlines back in 2019 when it took credit for getting AT&T to cut spending to refocus on its mobile network. It offloaded shares in late 2020, only to buy again in early 2021 ahead of AT&T formalizing a merger between its Time Warner subsidiary with Discovery -- a business now called Warner Bros Discovery. Elliott has made some coin off these deals, but neither stock has fared well for buy-and-hold shareholders.

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Source Fool.com