finance
GameStop Launches $56 Billion Unsolicited Bid for eBay
Ryan Cohen told Business Insider he intends to become CEO of both GameStop and eBay after the video game retailer made a $56 billion bid for the larger e-commerce company. Cohen outlined financing plans using GameStop's cash reserves, new debt and a shareholder premium structure during interviews following a skeptical CNBC appearance. eBay said it is reviewing the unsolicited offer.
May 9, 12:51 PM·2m read1 source
Audio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
Developing·Limited corroboration so far. This page will refresh as more sources emerge.
GameStop made an unsolicited bid of about $56 billion for eBay, which has a market value more than three times the size of the video game retailer. Ryan Cohen, the CEO of GameStop, told Business Insider in a phone interview on Friday that he will continue doing whatever it takes to buy eBay. "I'm going to continue doing whatever I need to do in order to buy the business," Cohen said.
Cohen appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box on Monday. He said the skeptical interviewers misunderstood his deal math and that he laid out a clear explanation of how he would finance a deal for eBay. "I don't know what is so complicated for them to figure it out," Cohen added.
TD Bank expressed confidence in placing roughly $20 billion in debt. Together the sums would cover the cash portion of the bid, Cohen said. Cohen proposed that existing shareholders take half of their investment off the table by receiving $28 billion, described as a 40% premium from when GameStop started buying the stock.
He told TBPN that remaining shareholders would roll the rest of their investment into the combined company of GameStop and eBay. Cohen said the stock component of the eBay deal would be earnings per share accretive for GameStop shareholders. He said he could increase eBay's profitability through cost-cutting.
"There's a ton of fat that can be cut," Cohen stated. 28 billion for 2025. 2 billion for 2015, the year eBay completed its PayPal spinoff. The company's EBITDA margin was 24% for 2025.
Cohen, who took over GameStop in 2021, built his fortune as the cofounder of Chewy. He alleged that eBay executives and directors had sold hundreds of millions of dollars of stock without buying shares themselves. "They're not owners in the business.
