Video game publisher Electronic Arts to go private in record $55 billion buyout
Electronic Arts will be taken private in a record $55 billion buyout by Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. The deal marks the largest leveraged takeover in history.
- Sep 30, 2025,
- Updated Sep 30, 2025 11:31 AM IST
Electronic Arts, the publisher behind blockbuster franchises such as Battlefield, The Sims and EA Sports FC, is set to be taken private in a deal worth about $55 billion, the largest leveraged buyout ever announced.
The agreement will see a consortium made up of Silver Lake Management, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Affinity Partners, the firm founded by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. The consortium will acquire EA at $210 per share in cash. That price values the company at a 25% premium compared with where its stock traded before news of the negotiations surfaced.
Funding for the takeover will come from around $36 billion in equity, with PIF rolling over its nearly 10% stake, alongside $20 billion in debt commitments from JPMorgan Chase. The deal also includes a $1 billion break-up fee to cover scenarios such as regulatory delays or competing bids.
EA has been a fixture of the global games industry since its founding in 1982, building a portfolio of long-running titles that generate consistent sales and in-game revenue. Sports games such as Madden NFL and EA Sports FC remain best-sellers, while the company is preparing new releases like the next instalment of Battlefield.
The acquisition comes at a time when the wider $178 billion video games market is struggling with slower growth. After a boom during the pandemic, sales have softened, and many publishers have cut staff and scaled back projects. Industry trends are shifting towards established, continuously updated free-to-play games rather than expensive new titles, a challenge that has also weighed on EA.
Going private is expected to give the California-based company more room to navigate these changes without the short-term pressures of public markets. For PIF, it marks its most ambitious move yet into gaming, following a string of investments in studios and publishers in recent years.
The transaction is scheduled to close by the first quarter of fiscal 2027, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. If completed, it will eclipse the 2007 TXU energy buyout to become the largest leveraged takeover in history, underlining the scale of investor bets on gaming’s long-term potential despite near-term uncertainty.
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Electronic Arts, the publisher behind blockbuster franchises such as Battlefield, The Sims and EA Sports FC, is set to be taken private in a deal worth about $55 billion, the largest leveraged buyout ever announced.
The agreement will see a consortium made up of Silver Lake Management, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Affinity Partners, the firm founded by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. The consortium will acquire EA at $210 per share in cash. That price values the company at a 25% premium compared with where its stock traded before news of the negotiations surfaced.
Funding for the takeover will come from around $36 billion in equity, with PIF rolling over its nearly 10% stake, alongside $20 billion in debt commitments from JPMorgan Chase. The deal also includes a $1 billion break-up fee to cover scenarios such as regulatory delays or competing bids.
EA has been a fixture of the global games industry since its founding in 1982, building a portfolio of long-running titles that generate consistent sales and in-game revenue. Sports games such as Madden NFL and EA Sports FC remain best-sellers, while the company is preparing new releases like the next instalment of Battlefield.
The acquisition comes at a time when the wider $178 billion video games market is struggling with slower growth. After a boom during the pandemic, sales have softened, and many publishers have cut staff and scaled back projects. Industry trends are shifting towards established, continuously updated free-to-play games rather than expensive new titles, a challenge that has also weighed on EA.
Going private is expected to give the California-based company more room to navigate these changes without the short-term pressures of public markets. For PIF, it marks its most ambitious move yet into gaming, following a string of investments in studios and publishers in recent years.
The transaction is scheduled to close by the first quarter of fiscal 2027, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. If completed, it will eclipse the 2007 TXU energy buyout to become the largest leveraged takeover in history, underlining the scale of investor bets on gaming’s long-term potential despite near-term uncertainty.
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