TD Bank financing for GameStop's eBay bid hinges on investment-grade rating

8 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · May 7

GameStop's $56 billion cash-and-stock offer for eBay includes about $20 billion of TD debt financing and follows its disclosure of a roughly 5% eBay stake.
People familiar with the matter and at least one ratings firm say the assumption that the combined company would win investment-grade status is far from certain.
Earlier, GameStop said TD had issued a nonbinding highly confident letter, reviving a takeover financing tool associated with 1980s junk-bond-era hostile bids.

With $3.8 trillion in assets stalled, is this risky financing Wall Street's only way out?

Can a retailer acquire a company four times its size with just a non-binding letter?

Is GameStop's 1980s-style financing a brilliant move or a sign of market desperation?