Feb 27 (Reuters) - Stripe on Thursday announced a tender

offer for employees and shareholders that valued the company at

$91.5 billion, nearly 41% higher than its valuation a year ago,

potentially delaying the fintech firm's ambitions of going

public.

The deal signals the strong recovery of the global

venture capital sector, as central banks have started to cut

interest rates amid subdued inflation and strong economic data.

"Stripe was profitable in 2024, and we expect to be so

in 2025 and beyond," co-founders John Collison and Patrick

Collison said in their annual letter published on Thursday.

The payments processing company was valued at $65 billion in

a deal last year, which allowed employees to cash out their

stock.

At its peak, Stripe was valued at $95 billion in 2021.

The company serves a variety of high-profile customers,

including Elon Musk-led social media platform X, Amazon ( AMZN )

, car rental firm Hertz Global ( HTZ ) and grocery

delivery app Instacart.

Stripe, which has headquarters in San Francisco and

Dublin, allows companies to accept payments, send payouts and

automate financial processes.