GameStop chief executive Ryan Cohen has hit back at eBay after the online marketplace rejected his $56bn takeover proposal, warning he could take the offer directly to shareholders.
Cohen wrote to eBay board chair Paul Pressler on Wednesday, complaining that the company had dismissed his unsolicited $125-a-share approach “without engaging on its substance”, according to the Financial Times.
The GameStop boss said eBay had rejected his request to meet its board, but insisted shareholders should be given the chance to consider the offer.
“Ebay’s own shareholders deserve the opportunity to evaluate” the proposal, Cohen wrote in the email seen by the FT.
GameStop, which has a market value of around $10.3bn, has built a five per cent stake in eBay as part of its takeover push, giving it a platform to launch a hostile approach.
The bid, which was announced earlier this month, values eBay at more than four times GameStop’s own market capitalisation and would be funded through a mix of cash and stock.
However, eBay rejected the offer on Tuesday, describing it as “neither credible nor attractive”.
The marketplace raised concerns over the financing of the deal, the debt levels of any combined business, GameStop’s governance and the financial incentives of its executives.
Cohen responded by attacking eBay’s own governance and executive pay, claiming chief executive Jamie Iannone had received $144m over his six-year tenure despite a fall in the company’s active buyer base.
He also said Iannone had not bought any eBay shares on the open market since becoming chief executive.
Cohen argued his own approach at GameStop had been different, pointing to his personal investment in the business and the retailer’s efforts to stem losses.
“Ebay’s directors do not own eBay,” he wrote. “They have presided over five years of net user decline.”
The clash marks the latest twist in an unusual takeover battle between two very different names in retail and ecommerce.
GameStop, once best known as a struggling video games chain, became a global meme stock phenomenon in 2021 after retail investors piled into its shares.
Its attempt to acquire eBay initially drew support from some of those investors, although GameStop shares have fallen 17 per cent since the takeover approach became public.
eBay shares closed up 2.4 per cent on Wednesday at $113, valuing the company at around $50bn.
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