GameStop's $700M offering seeks to capitalize on soaring stock price
Shares had surged 916% this year
GameStop Corp. plans to raise up to $700 million through a common stock offering to take advantage of its soaring share price.
The Grapevine, Texas-based video game retailer, which has seen shares surge 916% this year through last week, plans to use funds from its “at-the-market” offering to accelerate its shift to an e-commerce-based model and to strengthen its balance sheet, which already has more than $500 million cash. Existing shareholders will be diluted by 5%.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GME | GAMESTOP CORP. | 29.02 | -1.88 | -6.07% |
GameStop has been undergoing a major transformation of its business model with the aim of becoming the “ultimate destination for gamers” by building a product catalog that covers PC gaming, computers, monitors, game tables, mobile gaming, gaming TVs and other areas.
The shift is being spearheaded by Ryan Cohen, co-founder of the online pet product supplier Chewy, whose investment firm RC Ventures has amassed a 13% stake in GameStop.
Cohen has made a series of changes to GameStop’s leadership team to implement the transformation.
Last week, GameStop announced the appointment of former Amazon executive Elliott Wilke to chief growth officer.
The company also named Andrea Wolfe and Tom Peterson to the respective roles of vice president of marketing and vice president of merchandising after previously holding the same roles at Chewy. Other changes at the company have included the departure of CFO Jim Bell and the naming of Matt Francis, engineering leader at Amazon Web Services, as the company’s first chief technology officer.
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GameStop’s e-commerce business has gained momentum over the past year as more customers have shopped from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company last month reported 2020 online sales surged 191% year over year; however, it swung to a net loss of $138.8 million from a profit of $19.1 million. Net sales were down 21% to $5.09 billion.