Pedestrians pass in front of a GameStop store in New York

GameStop shares surged 12 percent Friday on a report from the Wall Street Journal that a deal for the struggling retailer could come as soon as mid-February.

Private equity firms interested in buying GameStop include Sycamore Partners and Apollo Global Management, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.

The video game and electronics company has struggled as competition from Amazon and digital gaming have eaten into its sales. Revenues have dropped for four of the last five years, and investors aren't happy. Its stock, which has a $1.5 billion market value, declined 30 percent last year.

The company has been trying to restructure its business and branch out beyond selling new and used video games. But those ventures haven't always worked out. In November, it sold its Spring Mobile business for $700 million to Prime Communications to generate cash.

GameStop and Sycamore Partners declined to comment. Apollo wasn't immediately available to respond to a request for comment.

Read the full report in the Wall Street Journal here.