Ryan Cohen said he didn’t understand questions about how the video games retailer could afford its $55.5bn bid
GameStop’s shares fell more than 10% on Monday as questions emerged about how the company would finance its surprise $55.5bn bid for eBay.
In an interview with CNBC, Ryan Cohen, GameStop’s CEO, skirted repeated inquiries about how the video games retailer could afford the deal, saying he didn’t understand the questions.
A letter published on GameStop’s website outlines a half-cash, half-stock proposal to acquire eBay at $125 a share, using about $9.4bn in “cash on hand”, and a $20bn in potential debt financing from TD Securities. Adding that to GameStop’s market capitalization, valued at about $11bn, brings the total to around $40bn – $16bn short of what it offered in its unsolicited bid.
“Where is the rest of the money coming from?” asked the CNBC journalist Becky Quick, following questions from Andrew Ross Sorkin, both co-anchors of the network’s morning talkshow, Squawk Box.
