Stock prices for eBay climbed significantly in early Monday trading following news that GameStop has launched a massive takeover attempt valued at approximately $56 billion, with company leadership viewing the acquisition as a pathway to challenge Amazon’s retail dominance.
The gaming retailer’s strategy involves converting its roughly 1,600 locations across the United States into shipping and pickup centers. Plans also include broadcasting live product demonstrations of eBay merchandise directly from GameStop stores.
“EBay has the second largest commerce franchise and there’s a big opportunity to do something much larger,” Cohen said in a CNBC interview Monday.
The acquisition offer stands at $125 per share through a combination of cash and stock options. The total equity valuation reaches $55 billion according to current market calculations.
Beginning in February, GameStop started purchasing eBay stock and now holds a 5% ownership position in the online marketplace.
GameStop executives are targeting significant expense reductions at eBay, pointing to the company’s $2.4 billion expenditure on sales and marketing during fiscal 2025 that resulted in only 1 million additional active customers. The gaming retailer projects annual savings of $2 billion within twelve months following deal completion.
Cohen, who controls approximately 9% of GameStop, would lead the merged organization as chief executive. His compensation would depend entirely on the combined entity’s financial performance.
Taking the helm at GameStop in 2023, Cohen inherited a company struggling with leadership instability as digital gaming transformed the industry landscape. GameStop gained widespread attention as a prominent meme stock that captivated individual investors on Wall Street. The company’s stock price skyrocketed by 1,000% over a two-week period in 2021 when smaller investors collectively drove up share values.
While GameStop’s stock has declined from those peaks, it maintains gains exceeding 30% for the current year.
Pre-market trading showed eBay shares climbing more than 8%, while GameStop stock dropped over 3%.
