GameStop ups its stake in eBay after its buyout bid was rejected

By Bill Peters

GameStop has boosted its stake in eBay to around 6.55%, up from around 5%

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen said he was making an unsolicited offer to buy eBay earlier this month.

EBay may have shot down GameStop's $56 billion buyout offer this month, but the videogame retailer continues to show interest in the online auction platform.

GameStop (GME) has boosted its stake in eBay (EBAY) to around 6.55%, up from roughly 5% as of earlier this month, according to a filing from GameStop late Tuesday. The 6.55% ownership stake reflects common stock and shares underlying put/call option pairs.

Shares of eBay rose 4.1% on Wednesday. GameStop's stock gained 2%.

GameStop's move marks the latest in the drama between the two companies, which started this month when GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen said he was making an unsolicited offer to buy eBay, and was ready to take a proxy fight to shareholders if eBay rejected it.

EBay, in turn, briefly banned Cohen from its platform, Cohen said. Then it unbanned him and rejected GameStop's takeover attempt, with its board saying the offer was "neither credible nor attractive."

Since eBay is a much bigger company than GameStop - its market cap is more than $50 billion, while GameStop's is nearly $10 billion - analysts questioned whether the math of the deal really added up. Moreover, GameStop has faced falling sales amid the rise of online gaming.

As the Wall Street Journal has noted, an acquisition would come as Cohen looks to increase GameStop's market valuation to at least $100 billion. He could make up to $35 billion in stock compensation if GameStop's value reaches that mark and if other goals are hit, the Journal said.

Wedbush analyst Michael Piccolo said in a note last week that eBay had significant resources at its disposal to ward off any takeover attempt, including the possible adoption of a shareholder-rights plan.

"The situation creates noise and a near term floor under eBay shares at a premium to pre-bid levels, but we view the probability of deal consummation in its current form as very low," he said.

Shares of GameStop are up 12.6% so far this year. EBay's stock is up 35.7% over that period.

-Bill Peters

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05-20-26 1615ET