US video games retailer GameStop has offered to buy eBay for $55.5bn (£41bn) in an unsolicited bid that its boss warned could turn hostile if the proposal is rebuffed by eBay’s board.
GameStop, which has quietly accumulated a 5% stake in eBay, said it was willing to pay $125 a share, split 50-50 between cash and stock.
It is an ambitious move by the games company, which catapulted to fame during the meme-stock craze of 2021 but is worth far less than its takeover target. GameStop had a market valuation of roughly $12bn on Friday before its bid, while eBay – originally launched as a side hobby by its founder Pierre Omidyar in 1995 – is worth about $46bn.
Just what the company needs … tens of billions in more debt.
How about, and hear me out here… How about, we jettison Ryan Cohen into the sun.
Genuinely, two out of the three GameStops near me just closed for good. How is that the sign of a company that could manage a hostile takeover of a major industry player from the dotcom era?
Edit: apostrophe on mobile
Relevant comment from Hacker News:
This is just a leverage buyout and it will likely result in the slow death of both parties while there is value extraction for those in control. Think Sears, Toys R US and similar.
The CEO has a very specific deal where he gets paid significant compensation for specific valuations, which this is likely to achieve. That is value extraction at the cost of shareholders who will be on the hook for the leveraged loan and which will likely wipe them all out over time.
