EA agrees to US$55 billion sale in largest leveraged buyout on record

ELECTRONIC Arts (EA) agreed to sell to a group of private investors in a deal that values the company at about US$55 billion, marking the largest leveraged buyout on record. 

The consortium, which includes Silver Lake Management, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, agreed to pay US$210 per share in cash for the Redwood, California-based company, according to a statement on Monday (Sep 29). That represents a 25 per cent premium to where its shares traded before the talks leaked on Friday. 

EA, the maker of EA Sports FC and The Sims, is selling amid sluggish growth for the US$178 billion video-game industry, after sales swelled during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.

The company, which has experienced numerous rounds of layoffs, has been seeking new areas of growth to inspire players who have gravitated toward free-to-play franchises that are continually updated rather than splash out on new titles that can cost US$80. 

The transaction will be funded with cash from the consortium partners, and Saudi Arabia’s PIF will roll over its existing 9.9 per cent stake in the company, constituting an equity investment of about US$36 billion. JPMorgan Chase will provide US$20 billion of debt financing.

The deal comes with a termination fee of US$1 billion should it fall apart, according to a company filing.

EA shares rose 4.8 per cent on Monday morning in New York. Gaming companies including Take-Two Interactive Software and Roblox also gained.

Founded in 1982, EA is one of the world’s largest independent video-game publishers after a wave of industry consolidation of the past few years. Activision Blizzard, maker of the Call of Duty shooter games, was acquired by Microsoft two years ago.

The pact displaces the US$45 billion take-private of power company TXU in 2007 as the largest buyout on record. It is also one of the largest merger and acquisition deals of 2025, and shows Wall Street’s appetite for game-changing mergers under the deal-friendly Trump administration, despite recession fears and geopolitical concerns impacting the broader economy.

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“Our creative and passionate teams at EA have delivered extraordinary experiences for hundreds of millions of fans, built some of the world’s most iconic IP, and created significant value for our business,” said Andrew Wilson, chief executive officer of EA. “This moment is a powerful recognition of their remarkable work.” 

Going private will remove the distraction of quarterly earnings and investor demands. EA’s strength in sports gives the company the predictable revenue that private equity firms like. The company’s sports titles, including Madden NFL, accounted for four of the industry’s top 10 bestsellers last year, according to the market research firm Circana. 

Analysts are also expecting a boost from Battlefield 6, the latest entry in the company’s popular shooter game franchise, scheduled to be released on Oct 10. Early buzz for the title has been strong and helped lift EA’s shares 15 per cent this year before news of the buyout emerged. 

Silver Lake, which has a long history of investing in the tech sector, is participating in the acquisition of the US business of TikTok, Bloomberg News previously reported. 

For Saudi Arabia’s PIF, this the biggest bet yet on interactive entertainment for a fund that already has a significant investment in video games, including a stake in EA and ownership of the maker of Pokemon Go. In 2023, the fund’s Savvy Games Group bought Scopely for US$4.9 billion, acquiring the company that released Monopoly Go!.

Most large deals with a foreign investor require some form of government approval. Affinity Partners – founded by Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, during the first Trump administration – is participating in the deal. Affinity is backed by foreign investors, including some from the Middle East.

Goldman Sachs is serving as EA’s financial adviser, and JP Morgan Securities is serving as financial adviser to the consortium.

Legal advisers include Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for EA; Kirkland & Ellis is serving as legal counsel to the consortium.