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GameStop has confirmed a $55.5 billion bid to buy eBay, with the offer split between cash and stock. Rumors had surfaced over the weekend.
The company said it wants full ownership of eBay and plans $2 billion in annual cost cuts within 12 months if the deal closes.
Good to Know
GameStop wants to cut about $1.2 billion from sales and marketing, $300 million from product development, and $500 million from general and administrative costs.
The company argued that eBay already has wide brand awareness and does not need current marketing spend levels.
GameStop said:
“eBay spent $2.4 billion on sales and marketing in fiscal 2025 while only adding one million net active buyers (134M to 135M—a net increase of less than 0.75%).
“On cost reductions alone, eBay’s diluted GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations would increase from $4.26 to $7.79 in year one. Beyond cost, GameStop’s ~1,600 US retail locations give eBay a national network for authentication, intake, fulfillment, and live commerce.”
Funding remains the harder part. GameStop has a market value a little above $11 billion and about $9.4 billion in cash and liquid investments. It also has a “highly-confident letter from TD Securities” for up to $20 billion in financing, though that financing is not fully locked in.
That still leaves an estimated funding gap of about $15 billion. GameStop could issue more stock, but that would dilute current shareholders.
CEO Ryan Cohen did not give a direct answer on that point during a CNBC interview:
“There’s going to be some leverage on the balance sheet in order to make an acquisition possible. But it’s also going to be making a lot more money in the future than it is today, because it’s going to be run a lot more efficiently.
“When a business is not growing users and spending $2.5 billion in sales and marketing, there’s a lot of fat to cut. And the earnings power, as we laid out in our investor presentation, could be way higher, double the earnings in a pretty short period of time. And so it’s a business that can take on more leverage because it’s going to be making more money in the future.”
eBay has not accepted the offer. In its own release, the company said it received “an unsolicited, non-binding acquisition proposal from GameStop” and will review it.