Key points to remember:
- Gamestop offered $55.5 billion for Ebay at $125/share, with TD Bank providing $20 billion in debt financing.
- Offer builds on Gamestop’s $519 million bitcoin position, built from 4,710 BTC purchased in fiscal year 2025.
- Ryan Cohen is considering a proxy fight if Ebay’s board refuses, signaling his full commitment to the acquisition.
The offer
Gamestop has submitted an unsolicited, non-binding offer to acquire Ebay for approximately $55.5 billion, or $125 per share, split roughly equally in cash and Gamestop common stock, representing a 20% premium to Ebay’s close last Friday.
Ryan Cohen, who runs Gamestop as CEO, told Ebay’s board that he sees the platform as capable of becoming a significant rival to Amazon. He also indicated that he was ready to continue a proxy fight and present the offer directly to shareholders if the board refuses to commit. TD Bank provided a $20 billion commitment letter to help finance the transaction.
Gamestop ended fiscal 2025 with almost 9 billion dollars in terms of total liquidity and investments, a war chest built up over years of cost cutting and, more recently, a deliberate pivot to digital assets.
THE Bitcoin Connection
The Bitcoin angle sits front and center on Gamestop’s modernized balance sheet, as the company acquired 4,710 BTC for around $500 million in fiscal 2025, with 4,709 of those coins pledged as collateral under a covered call strategy. The position has since grown to approximately $519 million and is part of the balance sheet that underpins Ebay’s proposal.
The approach reflects, in spirit if not in scale, the model popularized by Strategy, which holds 818,334 BTC and used preferred stock issuance and access to capital markets to finance aggressive bitcoin accumulation. Gamestop’s variation stands out in that, rather than accumulating more, the company leverages its non-traditional balance sheet to pursue M&A ambition on a scale that would have seemed implausible three years ago.
Market reaction
Gamestop stock closed at $26.53 on May 1, up 6.33%, as investors priced in the possibility of a transformation, while Ebay stock jumped more than 10% after hours (as seen above) following the reports. Meme coin GME reflected the enthusiasm, rising 54% within hours of the news being announced. EbThe ay board of directors has not yet responded publicly to the proposal.
