GameStop is in talks "regarding a potential transaction," the company confirmed Tuesday.  Reuters had reported on Monday that the company was in talks with private equity firms after it drew buyout interest. One of the companies expressing interest in GameStop is Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm specializing in retail and consumer investments.  Sycamore has a portfolio heavy with big retail names, including The Limited, Staples, and Hot Topic.

GameStop has been struggling to diversify to replace video game sales that are migrating online, but appears to have paused expansion of merch and games square footage in its most recent quarter (see "Gamestop ‘Rightsizing’ Games, Merch Space in Quarter with Sales Miss").  The company recently embarked on a test selling periodical comics purchased through the Direct Market distribution system (see "GameStop Testing Periodical Comics").

GameStop shares closed Tuesday up 12.8% from the closing price on Friday.