GameStop Completes $1.5 Billion Offering to Fund Bitcoin Reserve

Video game retailer GameStop said Tuesday that it has completed a $1.5 billion offering of convertible senior notes to investors, with plans to use the proceeds in part to purchase Bitcoin to hold in its corporate treasury.

GameStop announced its Bitcoin plans last week, first adding the asset to its list of acceptable treasury assets before announcing that it planned to raise $1.3 billion via the offering. A further $200 million worth of notes were also sold, according to the firm’s Tuesday filing with the SEC, as was originally listed as an option for the initial purchaser.

The sale of the convertible senior notes—which will mature on April 1, 2030—left GameStop with about $1.48 billion in net proceeds, less discounts for the initial purchaser and company expenses. As previously stated, the filing notes that the firm “expects to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Bitcoin.”

By selling convertible senior notes to fuel Bitcoin purchases, GameStop is taking a page out of the playbook of Strategy, the public company with the largest amount of BTC in its treasury. As of this writing, Strategy holds 528,185 BTC, or just over $45 billion worth, since it began buying the leading cryptocurrency in 2020.

In February, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen shared a photo of himself with MicroStrategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, a vocal advocate for corporate Bitcoin treasury reserves.

While initial excitement over GameStop’s Bitcoin move fueled a rise in the firm’s stock price early last week, investors did not appear thrilled with the idea of GameStop raising more debt to launch its crypto reserve. GME fell sharply late last week following that announcement, and remains down nearly 22% over the last week.

But GME did tick up on Tuesday, including after hours following the SEC filing. GME finished Tuesday up 1.3% at a price of $22.61, and has climbed another 1.4% or so since the close of trading.