GameStop has made a shock $55.5 billion takeover bid for eBay, providing $125 per share in a 50% money, 50% inventory proposal that represents a 27% premium to eBay’s 30-day volume-weighted common worth.
CEO Ryan Cohen stated eBay might rival Amazon underneath his management, and warned he would take the bid on to shareholders if eBay’s board rejected it.
eBay’s board stated it will overview the proposal, whereas analysts have been skeptical.
Morgan Stanley known as the 2 corporations’ enterprise fashions “essentially completely different,” and Bernstein stated it will be “stunned if something grew to become of it.”
A smaller purchaser chasing a bigger goal
GameStop, valued at roughly $11.9 billion, is trying to amass an organization price about 4 occasions extra.
The money portion would draw on GameStop’s $9.4 billion in liquid property plus a $20 billion dedication letter from TD Securities.
Cohen’s operational plan contains $2 billion in annualized value cuts inside 12 months, concentrating on eBay’s gross sales and advertising and marketing division, which GameStop stated spent $2.4 billion in fiscal 2025 whereas including solely round 1 million web lively patrons.
GameStop’s roughly 1,600 US retail places would additionally function authentication, consumption, and achievement hubs for eBay’s market, notably in collectibles, buying and selling playing cards, and luxurious items.
What this might imply for Bitcoin
GameStop accepted bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset and bought 4,710 BTC for $513 million in Might 2025, later pledging the holdings as collateral to Coinbase for a yield-generating choices technique.
Buying eBay would put that crypto infrastructure in entrance of 135 million lively patrons throughout 190 markets and almost $80 billion in gross merchandise quantity.
Potential purposes embody Bitcoin funds by way of the Lightning Community for cross-border transactions, Bitcoin-linked vendor balances, and blockchain-based authentication for high-value collectibles — although none of those have been formally proposed.
Deal faces steep hurdles
eBay’s board has not endorsed the supply, and the bid stays non-binding.
GameStop shares fell greater than 9% on the announcement whereas eBay rose 5%, reflecting investor doubt over whether or not GameStop can finance and shut a transaction of this scale.
Retail analyst Sucharita Kodali of Forrester instructed the BBC the proposal was not a “terribly good supply,” noting it will saddle eBay with important debt, including:
“The reality is, we’re not essentially placing two robust corporations collectively.”