California online marketplace EBay said Tuesday its board rejected GameStop’s unsolicited $56-billion takeover offer.
The proposal was “neither credible nor attractive,” EBay’s board said in a statement. The San José company said it rejected the bid after considering various factors, including how it could impact growth and profitability.
“With its differentiated global marketplace and a clear strategy, EBay’s Board is confident that the company, under its current management team, is well-positioned to continue to drive sustainable growth, execute with discipline, and deliver long-term value for our shareholders,” the board’s letter to GameStop’s Chief Executive Ryan Cohen said.
The rejection sets back video game retailer GameStop’s bold ecommerce ambitions to take on bigger rivals such as Amazon. Cohen told news outlets that he planned to grow EBay, noting that the company, like GameStop, also focuses on selling collectibles such as trading cards.
Analysts expressed skepticism about the offer, including how GameStop would pay for the takeover. As of Tuesday, GameStop, headquartered in Texas, has a market cap of $10 billion. That’s much lower than EBay’s $48-billion market cap.
GameStop didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, GameStop announced it offered to acquire EBay for $125.00 per share in cash and stock. The proposal represented a 46% premium to EBay’s closing price on Feb. 4, according to a news release from the company. GameStop also started buying EBay shares and has a 5% stake in the company.
A letter from investment bank TD Securities to GameStop said that it was “highly confident” that the company would raise up to $20 billion to fund the deal.
Questions still swirled around whether GameStop could afford to buy eBay and compete with Amazon.
In an interview with CNBC, Cohen said the company was offering “half cash” and “half stock” when pressed for more details about how GameStop would finance the takeover bid.
“We have the ability to issue stock in order to get the deal done, but the full details of the offer on our on our website,” he said in the interview.
Cohen told the Wall Street Journal that the company planned to take the offer directly to shareholders if EBay wasn’t open to the proposal.
GameStop has also been grappling with the rise of online shopping. The company has closed roughly 470 stores nationwide in January, according to an unofficial blog tracking GameStop’s store closures. The company’s revenue for fiscal year 2025 totaled $3.63 billion, down roughly 5% compared to the 2024 fiscal year. As GameStop slashed costs, its net income grew to $418.4 million.
EBay has also been trying to cut back while adapting to changes in the ways people shop. The company said it plans to acquire fashion marketplace Depop from Etsy for $1.2 billion in cash to reach young consumers. In February, EBay announced it would lay off 6% of its workforce, roughly 800 jobs.
On Tuesday, EBay’s share price rose 2% to around $110. GameStop’s stock fell more than 3% to roughly $22 per share.
