GameStop Stock Plummets After Abandoning Plans to Sell Company

GameStop's stock prices took a huge hit on Tuesday when the massive gaming retailer announced it had abandoned plans to sell the company.

The seller of physical video games and other related entertainment products was said to be in talks with other companies regarding a potential purchasing of GameStop. Those reports would later be confirmed when GameStop said it was engaged in "exploratory discussions" regarding the future of the company and a potential transaction with a third-party company.

Those talks appear to be over after GameStop said on Tuesday that it was no longer pursuing plans to sell the company. In turn, the stock prices for GameStop went straight down with CBS News reporting that the stock prices for the retailer saw a 25 percent dip Tuesday morning. As the day progressed, the numbers would show that the value dropped even more to the lowest point that it's been in nearly 15 years.

When GameStop initially announced it was ending those exploratory talks with other companies, it cited a lack of acceptable terms as the reason behind the decision.

"The Board undertook a comprehensive review process, including discussions with third parties regarding a potential sale of the company," GameStop's statement regarding the decision said. "GameStop's Board has now terminated efforts to pursue a sale of the company due to the lack of available financing on terms that would be commercially acceptable to a prospective acquiror."

Being a retailer known for its physical games, the rise of digital games and online purchases has often been cited as one of the main factors that's cutting into the physical sales. In the past, GameStop has expanded its catalog to include more collectibles related to video games and movies as well as a more recent decision to begin selling comic books. GameStop rationalized its decision to start selling comic books by describing the product as a "natural adjacency" to the rest of its merchandise.

"We define consumer products as toys and collectibles," GameStop said in an interview with io9. "The decision to start selling comic books in the U.S. domestic GameStop and Think Geek stores is because, for us, it's a very natural adjacency. We've got that collector fan in our environment."