It’s official. In a press release via PR Business Wire this morning, Electronic Arts Inc. has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an investor consortium in an all-cash transaction valuing the company at $55 billion.
The group is comprised of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF),
PIF, private equity firm Silver Lake, and investment firm Affinity Partners which is owned by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Under the the agreement, the group will acquire 100% of EA, with PIF rolling over its existing 9.9% stake. EA stockholders will reportedly receive $210 per share in cash.
The transaction was approved by EA’s Board of Directors and is expected to close in Q1 FY27 (Apr-Jun 2026) but is subject to customary closing conditions including receipt of required regulatory approvals and approval by EA stockholders. Once closed, EA’s common stock will no longer be listed on any public market.
The sale being made official after first being reported on last week, has stirred a lot of chatter from games journalists and consultants deeply concerned about the impact this will have.
Noted scooper Jason Schreier says on Bluesky: “The leveraged buyout will be financed by a staggering $20 billion of debt, which likely means some *aggressive* cost cutting is ahead for EA in the coming months and years.” In other words, “Battlefield” and EA Sports titles are about the only safe bets.
Laura Kate Dale, a cultural consultant on “Dragon Age: Veilguard,” says on Bluesky: “We are worse off as an industry if Bioware ends up pressured to back down from attempting progressive themes in their games due to who owns EA.”
