Games retailer and meme stock GameStop has offered to buy eBay, a company almost four times its size, for around US$55.5 billion (A$77.27 billion).
GameStop currently has a 5% stake in eBay, and has bid $125 per share split equally between cash and stock. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen said he aims to transform eBay into a rival to Amazon and boost its valuation to “hundreds of billions of dollars” if the transaction completes.
“GameStop Corp. today submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire 100% of eBay Inc. at $125.00 per share in cash and stock. The offer represents a 46% premium to eBay’s unaffected closing price on February 4, 2026, the day GameStop started accumulating its position in eBay,” GameStop wrote.
“eBay spent $2.4 billion on Sales & Marketing in fiscal 2025 while only adding one million net active buyers,” per GameStop. “GameStop will deliver $2 billion of annualised cost reductions within twelve months of closing.”
According to eBay, the bid was unsolicited, and it had no discussions with GameStop beforehand. It said its board would review the proposal.
GameStop said it had a commitment letter from TD Securities to provide up to $20 billion in debt financing, along with the company’s existing $9.4 billion in cash and liquid investments.
However, GameStop’s market capitalisation is just $10.69 billion, far lower than eBay’s $48.54 billion.
“We have the ability to issue stock in order to get the deal done,” Cohen said in a CNBC interview, but he otherwise declined to give details on the remainder of the deal’s financing.
GameStop’s stores could support eBay’s operations if the transaction closes, Cohen told the Wall Street Journal, including as locations to collect items from eBay sellers. He also said he would prioritise live commerce at eBay, which uses video streaming to promote and sell items.
Cohen would be the combined company’s CEO, according to GameStop.
The company’s board granted Cohen a performance-based stock option award in January, which would offer options to purchase shares based on increasing the company’s market cap. The first award would be available once GameStop reaches $20 billion, with the final slate vested at $100 billion.
eBay beat both top- and bottom-line estimates last quarter, meanwhile, with earnings per share rising by 21% year-over-year. It agreed to buy e-commerce app Depop for $1.2 billion in February, and also said that month it would lay off around 6.5% of its workforce in cost-cutting efforts.
Shares in GameStop (NYSE: GME) closed 10.1% lower at $23.84, and dropped a further 1.2% after-hours. It gained prominence as a meme stock in 2021 after amateur investors boosted shares by over 700% in one week, and the stock is up 15.6% in 2026 to date.
eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) shares closed 5.1% higher at $109.33, but dipped 1% after-hours.
