GameStop raises more than $1 bln in latest share offer (updated)

Meta Materials

22/06/2021 13:12

(Adds details on earlier offerings, background)
    June 22 (Reuters) - Videogame retailer GameStop Corp  GME.N 
said on Tuesday it had raised about $1.13 billion in its latest
share offering, cashing in further on a social-media-driven
surge in its stock price.
    The company, whose shares are up more than 960% this year,
was the spark in January for a battle casting hedge fund
short-sellers against a pack of small-time investors organizing
online. 
    It remains one of the hottest and most visible "meme stocks"
and was up nearly 9% in premarket trading on Tuesday.
    The company, like others of the social-media hyped stocks
that have lit up Wall Street since January, has sold millions of
dollars in new stock on the back of what institutional players
say are speculative share moves unjustified by their businesses.
    Cinema operator AMC Entertainment  AMC.N , another meme
play, completed two share issues in three days earlier this
month, while Torchlight Energy  TRCH.O  on Monday upsized its
own share sale to $250 million.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2NL22W  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2O42C2
    GameStop said it would use the net proceeds from the
offering, which adds to $551 million it raised in late April,
for general corporate purposes as well as for investing in
growth initiatives.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nGNX7czyKH
    The company is trying to pivot to e-commerce and recently
hired a former Amazon official as its new chief executive
officer to steer it through the transition.
    Its shares dipped sharply when it announced the share offer
earlier this month and have fallen another 10% since, even after
Tuesday's initial moves. 
    White Square Capital, a London-based hedge fund that
suffered losses betting against GameStop during the first meme
stock rally in January, is shutting down, the Financial Times
reported on Tuesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2O30R0

 (Reporting by Eva Mathews and Sagarika Jaisinghani in
Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Patrick Graham)
 ((Eva.Mathews@thomsonreuters.com;))