GameStop makes $56 billion unsolicited bid to acquire eBay

Cris Tolomia

Mon, May 4, 2026 astatine 6:17 AM CDT 3 min read

In a Sunday announcement, GameStop enactment guardant a non-binding connection to acquisition each of eBay's outstanding shares astatine $125 apiece, with the information divided arsenic betwixt currency and GameStop communal stock, placing eBay's undiluted equity worth astatine astir $55.5 billion.

At $104.07, eBay closed Friday astatine a terms that GameStop's bid tops by 20%; the connection besides clears eBay's Feb. 4 adjacent by 46%, that day being erstwhile GameStop archetypal began accumulating its position, the institution noted. Through a operation of derivatives and nonstop banal holdings, GameStop has assembled a presumption representing astir 5% of eBay's equity.

Financing for the transaction would travel from 2 sources: a astir $9.4 cardinal currency reserve GameStop held arsenic of January 31, 2026, and up to $20 cardinal successful debt, backed by a committedness missive already successful manus from TD Securities. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen told The Wall Street Journal helium is prepared to prosecute a proxy combat and instrumentality the connection straight to eBay shareholders if the committee declines to engage.

The connection missive stated that Cohen intends to pb the merged entity arsenic main executive, forgoing immoderate wage oregon currency bonuses successful favour of compensation tied wholly to however the combined institution performs.

Within a twelvemonth of immoderate woody closing, GameStop envisions stripping $2 cardinal successful yearly costs from eBay's operations, with income and marketing, merchandise development, and wide and administrative enactment items each successful scope. Absent immoderate different changes, GameStop calculated that disbursal reductions of that magnitude would propulsion eBay's diluted net per stock from $4.26 to $7.79.

GameStop's astir 1,600 home stores were besides cited successful the connection arsenic a ready-made infrastructure plus that eBay could leverage for point authentication, seller intake, bid fulfillment, and unrecorded commerce. Cohen told The Wall Street Journal that eBay "could beryllium a legit rival to Amazon" and that helium is "thinking astir turning eBay into thing worthy hundreds of billions of dollars."

After-hours trading sent eBay shares up astir 13% to astir $118, a level that inactive trails GameStop's $125 bid — a dispersed that, according to CNBC, reflects doubts successful the marketplace astir whether the transaction volition yet beryllium completed. Analyst absorption has included pushback connected the deal's strategical logic, with Bernstein telling clients successful a enactment that eBay's turnaround already appeared to beryllium moving and questioning the request for extracurricular intervention, per The Wall Street Journal, which had archetypal disclosed connected Friday that GameStop was softly amassing an eBay presumption up of a ceremonial approach.