(Updates )

• GameStop's shares tumble 15.5% to $23.95, and on track for their biggest daily pct drop since Jun 2024, as co seeks capital raise to purchase bitcoin

• 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 said it would add the cryptocurrency as a treasury reserve asset

• GameStop's pivot echoes that of Strategy , which has tapped the capital markets extensively to hoard bitcoin

• The CB financing suggests GME "may be ready to employ a more aggressive BTC acquisition approach, influenced by Strategy," said

• As of Feb 3, GameStop had $4.8 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

• With the move on the session, stock down ~24% YTD. It closed at $13.17 a year ago
(Reporting by Lance Tupper in New York and Medha Singh in Bengaluru Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)