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Bid for eBay
GameStop has made a surprise takeover offer for eBay valued at $55.5 billion, proposing to buy the e-commerce platform for $125 per share in a cash-and-stock deal.
“GameStop's chief executive, Ryan Cohen, said eBay could be much more successful under his leadership and even rival Amazon”
In the BBC’s account, GameStop’s chief executive Ryan Cohen said eBay could be “much more successful under his leadership” and could even “rival Amazon,” while Morgan Stanley said the companies had “fundamentally different” business models.
CNBC reported that GameStop’s offer was unsolicited, nonbinding, and split evenly between cash and GameStop common stock, valuing eBay at roughly $55.5 billion.
CNBC also said the offer represented a 20% premium to eBay’s Friday close of $104.07 and a 46% premium to its closing price on Feb. 4, when GameStop began building a stake.
The Guardian described the bid as a $55.5bn offer and said GameStop’s letter outlined a half-cash, half-stock proposal at $125 a share.
Across the coverage, eBay confirmed it received the offer and said its board would review it, while GameStop said it has a commitment letter from TD Securities to provide around $20 billion in debt to help finance the takeover.
Financing and the math
The proposed deal immediately triggered questions about how GameStop would pay for it, with multiple outlets focusing on the gap between the implied transaction size and GameStop’s market value.
CNBC said investors were skeptical the deal would close, noting that GameStop’s market value is just below $12 billion while eBay’s is $46 billion, and that GameStop stock sank 10% while eBay shares rose about 5% to around $109.
The Guardian put the financing arithmetic in sharper relief, writing that adding GameStop’s market capitalization valued at about $11bn to the letter’s “half-cash, half-stock” plan brings the total to around $40bn—“$16bn short of what it offered in its unsolicited bid.”
In the Guardian’s account of a CNBC interview, Becky Quick asked “Where is the rest of the money coming from?” and Ryan Cohen replied, “I don’t understand your question,” before saying, “We’re offering half cash, half stock, and we have the ability to issue stock to get the deal done.”
CNBC similarly reported Cohen’s combative interview style, including his statement on “Squawk Box” that “We are just starting,” and his insistence that “the full details of the offer are on our website.”
The BBC reported that GameStop said it has a commitment letter from TD Securities to provide around $20bn in debt and that Cohen planned to cut costs at eBay by $2bn within a year of a completed deal.
Cohen’s pitch and strategy
GameStop’s takeover proposal is framed as a way to turn eBay into a competitor to Amazon by combining GameStop’s physical footprint with eBay’s online marketplace.
“GameStop's shops would give eBay a national network for its "live commerce" and other business operations”
The BBC said GameStop’s shops would give eBay a national network for its “live commerce” and other business operations, and it reported that Cohen criticized GameStop’s slow shift into e-commerce.
CNBC described Cohen’s strategy as using GameStop’s stores to support the deal, while also emphasizing that eBay is “under-earning” and could “make a lot more money,” with Cohen arguing that earnings could potentially double under tighter cost controls.
In the CNBC interview coverage, Cohen said, “When a business is not growing users and spending $2.5 billion in sales and marketing, there's a lot of fat to cut ... it's a business that can take on more leverage because it's going to be making more money in the future.”
Fox Business similarly described the plan to combine GameStop’s physical retail footprint with eBay’s online platform, saying GameStop’s roughly 1,600 U.S. stores could serve as hubs for product authentication, returns, order fulfillment and live shopping experiences.
The Decrypt report added more detail, saying GameStop projected $2,000 million in annual cost savings in twelve months and pointed to eBay’s $2.4 billion in sales and marketing spending during fiscal 2025, alongside a net increase in active users from 134 million to 135 million.
Board response and hostile threat
While GameStop pitched the deal, eBay’s response emphasized review and process, and at least one outlet reported that Cohen was prepared to escalate if eBay rejects the offer.
CNBC said eBay confirmed it received the offer in a statement Monday and that its board would review it, while also noting that eBay did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
CBS News reported that eBay said it will “carefully review and consider the unsolicited proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the company and all eBay shareholders.”
CBS News added that the Wall Street Journal said Cohen is prepared to launch a hostile bid if eBay rejects the deal, and it quoted Cohen saying eBay could be a “legit competitor to Amazon.”
The Guardian described Cohen as having “skirted repeated inquiries” about financing details in a CNBC interview, and it said Cohen told CNBC, “I don’t understand your question,” after Becky Quick asked about the remaining money.
The BBC also reported that GameStop rose to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic meme stock craze and that Cohen became GameStop boss in 2023, while CNBC said Cohen told “Squawk Box” “For obvious reasons, eBay is a public company, there's all kinds of perverse financial incentives from the board to the management team.”
Bitcoin stash in focus
The proposed acquisition also revived questions about whether GameStop would use its bitcoin holdings to fund the expansion, with multiple outlets tying the $55.5 billion bid to a $368 million bitcoin stash.
“pone su reserva de bitcoin de 368 millones de dólares en la mira”
CoinDesk said the plan “puts its $368 million bitcoin stash in the crosshairs,” and it reported that GameStop expects to finance the offer using $9.4 billion in “cash and liquid investments” plus up to $20 billion in financing backed by TD Securities, raising doubts about whether it will sell its bitcoin.
BolsamaniaThe CoinDesk report also said GameStop shifted about 4,709 BTC to Coinbase Prime as part of a covered-call options strategy, keeping exposure to bitcoin while generating income, and it described the company’s accounting for the bitcoin as “receivables” after the Coinbase Prime maneuver.
In the same CoinDesk framing, CEO Ryan Cohen described the expansion plan as “mucho más convincente que bitcoin,” and it said Cohen left open the possibility of selling crypto holdings to fund a deal.
The @coindesk alternative article similarly said the acquisition plan “revives question on whether its $368 million bitcoin stash could be sold to fund the expansion,” and it quoted Cohen’s framing as “way more compelling than bitcoin.”
The stakes are therefore twofold in the sources: the corporate transaction itself and the fate of GameStop’s bitcoin holdings as a long-term investment or a funding source for expansion.
