GameStop's monthslong pursuit of eBay remains unresolved heading into the fall, with Chief Executive Officer Ryan Cohen appearing to have pulled back from an outright acquisition in favor of a scaled-down partnership, even as the video game retailer continues holding one of the largest outside stakes in the e-commerce company.

The saga began in earnest on May 3, when GameStop submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire 100% of eBay for $125 per share in a combination of cash and stock, valuing the deal at approximately $55.5 billion on an undiluted basis. The offer represented a 46% premium to eBay's closing price on February 4, the day GameStop began accumulating its stake in the company, and came after GameStop had already built roughly a 5% economic interest in eBay through a mix of derivatives and direct share ownership.

EBay's board rejected the proposal on May 12, saying in a statement that the offer was "neither credible nor attractive." Company chairman Paul Pressler expressed confidence in eBay's existing management and standalone strategy, with the board citing concerns about the deal's financing structure and its potential impact on eBay's long-term profitability and growth. GameStop did not immediately abandon the pursuit following that rejection. By June, Cohen had taken the offer directly to eBay shareholders in what amounted to a hostile bid, pairing that move with a separate $2 billion share buyback program for GameStop's own stock........

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