GameStop CEO buys $26.4 million of shares, extending insider buying spree

GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) CEO Ryan Cohen purchased nearly 1.15 million shares of the company's Class A stock on Monday for roughly $26.4 million.

The purchases, disclosed in a Form 4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, were made at prices ranging from $22.76 to $23.02 per share.

Cohen's direct holdings now stand at 40.49 million shares after the transaction.

The filing carries no Rule 10b5-1 designation, indicating the purchase was not made through a pre-scheduled trading plan.

Monday's purchase extended Cohen's recent run of insider buying at the company.

On September 10, he bought 1 million shares at a weighted average price of $20.38, spending about $20.4 million.

Three GameStop directors, Lawrence Cheng, James Grube and Alain Attal, also bought shares during the same week.

Cohen has been building his personal stake while pursuing a major acquisition target.

GameStop made a non-binding proposal to acquire eBay at $125 per share, with consideration split evenly between cash and GameStop stock, implying an equity value of about $55.5 billion.

eBay's board rejected the offer as "neither credible nor attractive".

Cohen has more recently considered withdrawing the takeover bid in favor of a partnership or joint venture with eBay, under which GameStop's roughly 1,600 US stores would give eBay a physical retail presence in categories such as trading cards and collectibles.

GameStop disclosed in July that it had raised its eBay stake to 9.75%, making it eBay's second-largest shareholder behind Vanguard Group funds.