[vmbm]

If the market is "efficient", then the debt should work against the market cap. For example if we assume a $50B offer at 50%/50% debt and stock, then we should expect the market cap to only increase by $25B. And for GME shareholders, they should expect their stock price to stay roughly the same because that $25B market cap would be offset by a corresponding increase in the number of shares. The debt would increase the enterprise value of the company, which is the more comprehensive metric to use when trying to value a company as it takes into account both debt obligations and cash on hand.

Of course the market may move the price up or down based on how much they like the merger. If they think there is some synergy here, they may move things higher. If they think the debt is too burdensome or have other issues with it, they will move the price lower. But all things being equal, any market cap increase of a buyout should be offset by the dilution that was incurred to finance the deal.

What looks like a "hack" here though, is that Cohen tied his incentive structure to market cap and not share price. The fact that his award is in the form of options and not RSU's does add some incentive for a higher share price, but at the end of the day, it looks like he can get 100% of his award by simply buying companies using dilutive stock issuance. Not sure how much the GME faithful appreciated that at the time of the vote. I think Elon did something similar in his incentive package.