GameStop makes daring $56 billion bid for eBay, hoping to rival Amazon
GameStop has offered to buy ecommerce giant eBay for $55.5 billion, a tie-up that the video game retailer's boss believes could produce a "legit competitor" to Amazon.
The offer comes amid something of a revival at eBay, which has pushed to reinvent itself in the face of rising competition from the likes of Walmart, Amazon, Shein and Facebook Marketplace.
GameStop - which became a household name during the meme stock craze of 2021 - has offered $125 per share for eBay, half in cash and half in stock, the company announced Sunday. That represents a 46% premium to eBay's closing share price on February 4, the day GameStop started building a 5% stake in the company.
It's an audacious bid, targeting a business nearly four times its size. As of Friday, GameStop was worth $11.9 billion, while eBay was valued at $46.2 billion, according to FactSet data. eBay's shares were up 9% in premarket trading, while GameStop's shares pointed to a sharply weaker open after gaining 6.3% on Friday.
In a letter to the chair of eBay, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen said the company would cut costs at eBay and make it more profitable. He also sees benefits in combining GameStop's brick-and-mortar stores with eBay's online presence. "GameStop's 1,600 US locations give eBay a national network for authentication, intake, fulfillment, and live commerce," he noted.
"It could be a legit competitor to Amazon," Cohen said about eBay in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. He said he believed eBay should be doing more around live commerce, where brands sell directly to shoppers via real-time video streams, the Journal reported.
In his letter, Cohen said he would serve as the chief executive of the combined company. GameStop plans to fund the buyout through cash and debt, which includes a commitment from TD Securities for up to $20 billion.
eBay makes a comeback
Launched in 1995, eBay remains among the top US retail e-commerce sites, but has lost market share as the field has widened, according to Emarketer, a market research company.
The company got a boost from the Covid-19 pandemic and has tried to build on that momentum by investing in artificial intelligence, a decision that has endeared it to shareholders. eBay's share price is up around 52% over the past year, and the stock has gained 188% since the start of 2020.
In February, the company agreed to buy British online clothing resale platform Depop from Etsy for $1.2 billion. UK competition regulators have yet to approve the deal.
Last week, eBay reported a 19% increase in first-quarter revenue. It said that its gross merchandise volume, or the total value of all transactions between users, jumped 18% to $22.2 billion.
GameStop shot to fame five years ago during the meme-stock craze, when an army of retail investors piled into the stock, sending its value soaring, in an attempt to squeeze professional traders who were betting that the company's share price would fall.
The company's brick-and-mortar business has struggled against a shift among its customers to online streaming and digital downloads. Cohen has led GameStop since January 2021. During his tenure, the company has swung from a $381 million net loss in 2021 to $418 million of net income in its latest financial year, ended January 31.
The CNN Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
