Video game retailer Gamestop has made an unsolicited bid for e-commerce site Ebay in a bid to take the fight to Amazon.
The world’s largest brick-and-mortar entertainment software retailer has made an offer to snap up Ebay that values the platform at $125 a share – a $20 premium on the stock’s closing price in New York on Friday.
Ryan Cohen, Gamestop’s chief executive, said he is ready to take the $55.5bn offer directly to shareholders should Ebay’s board kick it aside.
The Canadian-born entrepreneur proposed that he becomes the chief executive of the new combined entity and “receive no salary, no cash bonuses, and no golden parachute”.
Cohen said he would “be compensated solely based on the performance of the combined company.”
He added around $2bn of cost savings at the company would commence following the completion of the proposed deal. The firm said it had a commitment letter from TD Securities to provide around $20bn in debt financing to help the deal along.
Gamestop wants to take on Amazon
Cohen, who built his reputation as the founder of online pet supplies retailer Chewy, has sought to reposition Gamestop as a rival to Amazon after criticising it for embracing e-commerce too slowly.
He told the Wall Street Journal in the wake of the proposal that he saw a path to make Gamestop and Ebay a much bigger competitor to Amazon.
The retail chief became top boss at Gamestop in 2023, where he steered the firm back to profitability through aggressive cost cuts.
The business is headquartered in Texas and has a valuation just shy of $12bn.
Despite numerous site closures over the last few years, Gamestop maintains a network of around 1,600 outlets in the US. Cohen argued this would give Ebay a national network for its “live commerce”.
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