EBay Inc. jumped more than 13% in after-hours trading on Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported that video-game retailer GameStop Corp. is preparing a bid for the company.
GameStop, led by e-commerce entrepreneur Ryan Cohen, has been building a position in the online auctioneer and plans to make an offer for the business this month.
Spokespeople for eBay and GameStop didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Shares in GameStop also rose.
Cohen, the founder of pets supplies e-tailer Chewy, plans to turn the combined companies into a retail juggernaut, the newspaper reported. GameStop had a market value of $11.8 billion before the news broke, while eBay’s is much larger at around $46 billion.
Both companies have struggled to adapt to changing consumer preferences. GameStop has shut stores and emphasized collectible toys and trading cards as more video games are purchased online.
EBay has been pushing collectibles and used goods on its marketplace, which are both relevant to video-game enthusiasts and overlap with the GameStop customer. Limited releases and hard-to-find items are often sold at a markup on eBay to capitalize on their popularity and scarcity.
