** GameStop’s GME shares down 7% before the bell to $26.38 as co seeks capital raise to purchase bitcoin BTCUSD

** Video game retailer late Weds announced it’s offering privately $1.3 bln 0% 5-yr convertible bonds (CBs)

** GME shares finished up nearly 12% on Weds after co reported Q4 results and said it would add the cryptocurrency as a treasury reserve asset

** GameStop’s pivot is similar to that of Strategy MSTR, which has tapped the capital markets extensively to hoard bitcoin

** As of Feb 3, GameStop had $4.77 bln in cash, most of which was collected from ATM (“at-the-market”) sales of equity

** Co had ~$12.7 bln market cap through Weds, per LSEG data

** The reference price used to determine the conversion premium of the CBs to be based on the stock’s VWAP (volume weighted avg price) from 1:00 p.m. through 4:00 p.m ET on Thurs

** Through Weds, stock down 9.5% YTD. A year ago, the stock closed at $13.17