Electronic Arts — the wizard behind Madden NFL, Battlefield, and The Sims — is getting a plot twist worthy of a surprise season finale: a consortium led by Silver Lake Partners, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF, and Affinity Partners will pay $210 a share to take EA private in a deal valued at $52.5 billion (about $55 billion if you count debt).
If it closes, it may become the largest private-equity buyout in history — a boss fight the corporate world didn’t see coming but is now frantically trying to loot.
This buyout reads like a Hollywood crossover: Silver Lake brings financial muscle, PIF brings increasingly bold gaming ambitions (it already owns a portfolio of gaming stakes and rolled over its existing 9.9% EA stake), and Affinity Partners — helmed by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law — brings the surprise cameo.
Affinity’s CEO did not phone in a rote press release, though: “Electronic Arts is an extraordinary company with a world-class management team and a bold vision for the future,” Kushner said. “I’ve admired their ability to create iconic, lasting experiences, and as someone who grew up playing their games - and now enjoys them with his kids - I couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead.”
It’s the kind of personal, slightly nostalgic endorsement that sounds like it was scripted between gaming sessions.
If the deal closes — expected in fiscal 2027 if shareholders nod — it will end EA’s 36-year run as a public company that began modestly (first-day trading at a split-adjusted 52 cents) and grew into an industry behemoth.
CEO Andrew Wilson, who’s run the company since 2013, will remain in place; the headquarters will stay in Redwood City.
The idea: private ownership buys EA breathing room to retool without quarterly earnings calls and angry Twitter threads about loot boxes every other Tuesday.
Why the big price tag?
The gaming market is enormous, and strategic buyers have been scooping up assets for years.
Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard in 2023 raised the stakes; Saudi PIF has quietly been consolidating gaming assets into what analysts call an effort to scale its Savvy Gaming Group.
Raymond James’ Andrew Marok has written that PIF “has made its intentions to scale its gaming arm … clear,” and the EA deal would be its biggest move yet.
Not everyone’s cheering though.
Critics say the $210 offer may under-appreciate EA’s upside.
Mike Hickey of The Benchmark Company cautioned investors that “With Battlefield 6 about to launch and a pipeline that could add more than $2B in incremental bookings by FY28, the true earnings power of EA is only beginning to emerge.”
Hickey suggested the board may have chosen near-term certainty over maximizing long-term value, calling the offer “self-serving” and “opportunistic.”
On the other hand, Nick McKay of Freedom Capital Markets argued the price makes sense given limited upside: “The financial backing and resources of the investor consortium should enable EA to increase its focus on long-term growth opportunities that may have been viewed as too risky or expensive as a public company.”
A few stat bombs to keep on your HUD: EA’s annual revenues have been roughly stagnant in recent years, floating between $7.4 billion and $7.6 billion.
The transaction price of $52.5B (or $55B with debt) dwarfs the old record — the $32B buyout of TXU in 2007 — and if shareholders approve, EA will have the freedom to chase bigger, riskier bets: deeper investments in live services, new franchise risk-taking, or a quiet shift toward subscription and cloud gaming — all without the daily glare of public markets and short-term investors.
What’s next?
Shareholder votes, antitrust paperwork, and a months-long passage through the private-equity gauntlet.
Fans might wonder whether being private will mean fewer microtransactions (unlikely), bolder games (maybe), or a steady diet of sports updates and expansion packs (definitely).
For EA employees, the buyout promises stability and private capital; for investors, it’s a chance to cash out at a premium — and for board members, a relief from activist letters.
Whether you view this as a Power-Up or a Press X to Exit, one thing is clear: the gaming giant that started in the era of floppy disks is now being rerolled as private equity’s ultimate DLC.
Cue the victory music — and maybe stash a backup of your saves just in case!
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