London —
GameStop has offered to buy ecommerce giant eBay for $55.5 billion, a tie-up that the video game retailer’s boss believes could produce a “legit competitor” to Amazon.
The offer comes amid something of a revival at eBay, which has pushed to reinvent itself in the face of rising competition from the likes of Walmart, Amazon, Shein and Facebook Marketplace.
GameStop — which became a household name during the meme stock craze of 2021 — has offered $125 per share for eBay, half in cash and half in stock, the company announced Sunday. That represents a 46% premium to eBay’s closing share price on February 4, the day GameStop started building a 5% stake in the company.
It’s an audacious bid, targeting a business nearly four times its size. As of Friday, GameStop was worth $11.9 billion, while eBay was valued at $46.2 billion, according to FactSet data. Analysts have expressed skepticism about the deal and raised doubts about how GameStop will fund it. GameStop shares fell 10% Monday. EBay’s gained 5%.
