Gaming giant Electronic Arts bought in unprecedented $55bn deal
11 minutes ago Share Save Tom Gerken Technology reporter Share Save
Electronic Arts Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala are the cover stars of Electronic Art's latest football game EA FC 26, which released in September
Electronic Arts (EA), one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, has agreed a deal to sell the company for $55bn (£41bn). The consortium of buyers include Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners. EA is known for making and publishing best-selling games such as EA FC, formerly known as Fifa, The Sims and Mass Effect. It is understood to be the largest leveraged buyout in history - where a significant amount of the purchase is financed by borrowing money.
The deal will take EA private - meaning all of its public shares will be purchased and it will no longer be traded on a stock exchange. The purchase price puts a significant 25% premium on the market value of EA, valuing it at $210 per share. EA boss Andrew Wilson, who will remain in post, said it was a "powerful recognition" of the firm's work. "Together with our partners, we will create transformative experiences to inspire generations to come," he said. The firms buying EA will contribute approximately $36bn, with the remaining amount being financed by loans. "EA has been open to a potential buyer to help level up for a while," industry expert Christopher Dring told the BBC. "But an acquisition from private equity is a surprise and there's a lot of industry anxiety around this deal." He said there were concerns that the deal would result in $20bn of debt - which would need to be paid back. "The revenue generated by big games like EA Sports FC, Madden and Battlefield 6 will be needed to service this debt, which may impact EA's ability to invest in new games," he said. "Other industry concerns are whether this might lead to further cuts at EA, especially if there's pressure from the private companies to deliver stronger cash flow, again to serve that debt."
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