GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen seeks to buy eBay for $56 billion in cash and stock, says ‘It could …’

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has made an “unsolicited” offer to acquire eBay for about $56 billion, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The report said Cohen believes there is a strong opportunity to turn eBay into a much bigger competitor to Amazon. As per the report, the offer includes a mix of cash and stock and comes as GameStop builds a stake in eBay. Cohen also said he is prepared to take the proposal directly to shareholders if the company does not respond positively. “EBay should be worth—and will be worth—a lot more money,” Cohen told the publication. “I’m thinking about turning eBay into something worth hundreds of billions of dollars.”He added that combining GameStop and eBay could help reduce costs and improve earnings. Both companies already have some overlap, especially in areas like collectibles and trading cards. “There is nobody who is more qualified, based on my experience, to run the eBay business,” Cohen said, referring to his work at GameStop and Chewy.According to the report, GameStop has built about a 5% stake in eBay and is offering $125 per share. This represents a roughly 20% premium over eBay’s previous closing price.Cohen said GameStop has secured a commitment letter from TD Bank for up to $20 billion in debt financing to support the deal. The company also has around $9 billion in cash, though it is not clear how the full amount for the acquisition will be arranged.GameStop has formally sent an offer letter to eBay’s chairman, outlining the proposal and its plans.Cohen said GameStop’s physical stores could be used to support eBay’s online marketplace. For example, stores could help collect and verify items sold by eBay users. He also suggested that eBay should expand into live commerce, where products are sold through real-time video streams.“It could be a legit competitor to Amazon,” Cohen said about eBay.According to the WSJ report, the deal would be difficult to complete, as GameStop is much smaller than eBay. GameStop is valued at around $12 billion, while eBay is valued at about $46 billion.Some analysts have raised concerns about the plan. They noted that eBay has recently reported strong results and is already improving its business.“Why disrupt things? The turnaround is working,” analysts said in a note cited in the report.