GameStop has submitted a proposal to acquire all of the online marketplace eBay, which made about as much in sales during its most recent fiscal quarter as the retail chain did in its most recent full fiscal year.
The proposal would have GameStop acquire eBay for about $55.5 billion, following customary closing conditions. It is currently unclear how GameStop would cover the full cost of the acquisition. The proposal GameStop has made public accounts for less than $30 billion of the required funds.
The online marketplace reported its quarterly sales on April 29, four days before GameStop submitted its proposal on a Sunday night. In its most recent quarterly earnings, GameStop indicated that it had about $9 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, as of Jan. 31, 2026 (the end of its fiscal Q4 2025). Additionally, GameStop reported $3.63 billion in net sales in its full fiscal 2025.
That compares with eBay’s $3.09 billion in a single quarter, which ended March 31. The online marketplace’s cash and equivalents at the end of its fiscal Q1 were about $4.23 billion. If the acquisition were to go through as proposed, current GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen would serve in the same role for the combined company.
GameStop is No. 81 in the Top 2000 Database (down from No. 55 last year). That database ranks North America’s largest online retailers by their annual, global ecommerce sales. GameStop’s online sales decreased 26% year over year in 2025.
Meanwhile, eBay ranks No. 6 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database. The database ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV). EBay reported 17% revenue growth and 14% gross merchandise value (GMV) growth year over year in its fiscal Q1 2026. Its GMV reached $22.2 billion.
EBay itself recently reached an agreement to acquire the Depop marketplace from Etsy for $1.2 billion in cash.
How would GameStop’s acquisition of eBay work?
GameStop has submitted a proposal that would include $125 per share in cash and stock. That represents a 46% premium to eBay’s closing price on Feb. 4, 2026, GameStop said. That’s the day GameStop “started accumulating its position in eBay,” it said. “GameStop has built a 5% economic stake in eBay through derivatives and beneficial ownership of common stock.”
The proposal would be half cash, half GameStop common stock, “with full shareholder election rights as to consideration type and pro-rata allocation,” the retailer said.
GameStop acknowledged in its acquisition announcement that it valued eBay at about $55.5 billion. It said it based that on eBay’s most recently disclosed undiluted share count.
GameStop said it would finance its proposed eBay acquisition with a combination of:
- Cash and liquid investments on its balance sheet (which the announcement listed as about $9.4 billion).
- Third-party acquisition financing. GameStop said it has “received a highly confident letter from TD Securities for up to $20 billion.”
Notably, that stated financing totals less than $30 billion. That’s far short of the full $55.5 billion GameStop would require, per its own proposal. Cohen and GameStop have not elaborated on how the retailer would acquire the remaining prerequisite funds to finance its proposal to acquire eBay.
What GameStop and eBay said about the acquisition proposal
Cohen addressed a letter to eBay’s board chairman, CEO and chief legal officer, which GameStop has made public on its website. In it, he said GameStop would reduce costs for eBay and said the retailer’s roughly 1,600 locations in the U.S. would serve as a “national network” for the online marketplace’s authentication, intake, fulfillment and live commerce.
He also said GameStop’s board unanimously supports the proposal.
On May 4, eBay confirmed it had “received an unsolicited, non-binding acquisition proposal from GameStop. eBay had no discussions with or outreach from GameStop prior to receiving the proposal.”
It said its board of directors will review and consider the unsolicited proposal with financial and legal advisors to determine a course of action. EBay advised that its shareholders do not take action at the moment. It said it “does not intend to comment further” until it has “carefully and thoroughly considered the proposal.”
In a televised interview with CNBC the morning of May 4, Cohen said “eBay could be making a lot more money.” He also said “there’s going to be some leverage on the balance sheet in order to make an acquisition possible.” However, he did not specify how GameStop would account for its lack of required funds to complete the acquisition.
Instead, he said eBay has “a lot of fat to cut.” He claimed, without providing evidence or a strategy, that eBay could double its earnings “in a short period of time.”
Do you rank in our databases?
Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.
Sign up
Stay on top of the latest developments in the online retail industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.
FavoriteThe post GameStop proposes acquisition of eBay without clarifying funding appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.
from Digital Commerce 360 https://ift.tt/h69K4p3
0 Comments