Following that report Gamestop Wanted to buy eBay, CEO Ryan Cohen has confirmed that he delivered an unsolicited takeover offer to the company as it builds on its recent comeback. This bid for eBay sparks some questions and some intrigue, because GameStop itself isn't in a very big position financially, and eBay outsells it in the market.
GameStop has been in a somewhat strange place for the past decade. The once-popular video game retailer has struggled to keep pace with the growing digital-only video game industry and the retail giant that is Amazon, forcing it to pivot to licensed merchandise and baseball card sales. Recently, GameStop has dipped its toes into reselling retro games at select stores. By 2023, the company found itself under new leadership, now led by Ryan Cohen, who in 2021 has been dubbed GameStop's “Meme King” after a brief squeeze craze in its stock. Meanwhile, eBay has also seen its fair share of financial challenges as companies like Amazon continue to squeeze the resale market. While eBay looks to improve its bottom line, sellers are reporting lower sales volumes amid rising fees and lower profit margins.
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GameStop wants to buy eBay at a premium
Now, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has stated his intention to acquire eBay to the tune of $125.00 per share for a total of $55.5 billion. GameStop's official investor release says the price is 46% above eBay's closing price on February 4, 2026, when GameStop first bought into the company. For context, GameStop was valued at about $25.00 per share, with a market cap of about $11 billion, at the same time. Cohen said the merger of GameStop and eBay could create a serious competitor for Amazon, which has been a common competitor of both companies.
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EBay has confirmed that it received an unsolicited, non-binding offer from GameStop, saying there was no conversation with the company prior to making the offer. eBay's board of directors will review the proposal and evaluate what is best for eBay and shareholders moving forward, urging shareholders to take no action at this time. However, if GameStop's offer is rejected, it won't take no for an answer. Should eBay reject the deal, Cohen has said he is prepared to launch a hostile bid for the company, aiming to value it in the hundreds of billions of dollars. As of this news, GameStop shares are down 2%, while eBay is up 5%.
It has been clear for several years that Amazon has taken significant market share from both GameStop and eBay. Amazon's logistics, convenience, and Prime membership have made purchases from the company more enticing to customers than GameStop or eBay, whose shopping experiences have been declining in recent years. However, Cohen's bid to merge Gamestop and eBay to take on retail giant Amazon seems a little surprising. The deal would saddle GameStop with massive amounts of debt and merge two companies that have been fighting an uphill battle against a changing consumer market for a decade for poor reasons.
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Ryan Cohen says the merger could see GameStop stores serving as authentication centers for items sold on eBay, such as trading cards or retro games. GameStop and eBay can potentially tap into the vintage collectibles and retro gaming market, which are resale strongholds for eBay and naturally synergistic with GameStop, but these are still niche markets unlikely to drive significant sales for either company. What the future holds for GameStop is anyone's guess, as the company has proven time and time again that it refuses to go down quietly.
