GameStop is preparing an offer for eBay as CEO Ryan Cohen pursues plans to boost the struggling video-game retailer’s market value more than tenfold, the Wall Street Journal reported on May 1.
Shares of eBay, which has a market capitalisation of about US$46 billion, soared about 14 per cent in extended trading. GameStop gained 4 per cent. The company has a market value of nearly US$12 billion.
GameStop has been quietly building a stake in eBay’s shares ahead of a potential offer, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
If eBay is not receptive, Mr Cohen could decide to take the offer directly to the e-commerce company’s shareholders, the Journal said.
Details of the potential offer, which could be submitted as soon as later this month, could not be learned, the report added.
Mr Cohen, the largest investor in GameStop, and the companies did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
A potential deal would upend the usual M&A playbook. It is rare for a public company to target one nearly four times its size; such deals typically rely on heavy debt, stock issuance, or both – banking on future earnings of the combined company to justify the cost.
The billionaire investor, who joined the GameStop board in January 2021 and became the CEO in September 2023, has steered the company through a period that saw its return to profitability through aggressive cost cutting.
For years, GameStop has grappled with disruptions from a pivot to online shopping and digital purchases, forcing it to shutter many of its brick-and-mortar stores and focus on a web-based reinvention.
It reported a 14 per cent drop in revenue to US$1.10 billion for the holiday quarter.
GameStop in January unveiled a compensation package worth roughly US$35 billion for Mr Cohen, hinging on a turnaround that requires him to lift the company’s market value to US$100 billion and hit US$10 billion in cumulative performance EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation).
The company’s shares have slumped from the all-time highs hit in 2021, when it became a retail investor darling during the pandemic-era meme-stock rally.
EBay, whose shares have risen over 19 per cent this year, forecast second-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on April 29, betting on listings of collectibles and motor accessories as well as live-streamed auctions on its e-commerce platform. REUTERS