EA Goes Private: $55B Power-Up Led by Saudi PIF, Silver Lake and Kushner’s Affinity

Electronic Arts — the studio behind “Madden NFL,” “Battlefield,” and “The Sims” — is set to go private in a blockbuster buyout that values the company at about $55 billion including debt. A consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners will pay $210 per share in cash — an equity check of $52.5 billion and a 25% premium to EA’s last unaffected close.

It’s on track to be the largest private-equity–backed take-private in history, leapfrogging the $32 billion TXU deal from 2007. PIF, already EA’s biggest insider with 9.9%, will roll its stake. JPMorgan is providing $20 billion of committed debt financing, with $18 billion expected to fund at close.

CEO Andrew Wilson — in the chair since 2013 — will stay on, and EA will remain headquartered in Redwood City, California. The transaction is slated to close in Q1 FY27, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. If EA walks, it owes a $1 billion breakup fee; the consortium faces a similar penalty for certain delays or breaches.

The deal plugs straight into Saudi Arabia’s gaming push: since 2022, PIF (via Savvy Gaming Group) has taken stakes across major publishers and bought assets like ESL, FACEIT, and Scopely. PIF is also a minority investor in Nintendo. For Silver Lake, it’s another headline tech play after past bets on Dell and Skype, and recent involvement in the US oversight plan for TikTok.

Why now? Going private gives EA cover to retool without quarterly scrutiny. Revenue has hovered around $7.4–$7.6 billion the past three years, but management and backers say the pipeline — and the looming launch of “Battlefield 6” — can re-accelerate growth. Wilson hailed the move as validation of EA’s “iconic IP” and fan base.

Wall Street is split. Benchmark’s Mike Hickey argues $210 undershoots EA’s “intrinsic value,” pointing to a pipeline that could add $2B+ in bookings by FY28. Freedom Capital Markets’ Nick McKay counters that upside was already priced in — and that deep-pocketed owners can fund longer-horizon bets that felt too risky for a public company.

Investors didn’t wait for the epilogue: EA shares popped ~15% on Friday as rumors swirled, then added ~5% Monday after the announcement. If it closes, the deal will end 36 years of life as a public company — one that started with a split-adjusted $0.52 first-day close, seven years after founder Trip Hawkins turned his teenage love of Strat-O-Matic sports sims into a gaming empire.

Deal snapshot

• Price: $210/share (25% premium to Sept. 25 close).
• Equity value: $52.5B | Enterprise value: ~$55B.
• Sponsors: PIF (rolling 9.9%), Silver Lake, Affinity Partners.
• Financing: ~$36B equity + $20B debt (JPM committed; $18B to fund at close).
• Timing: Expected close Q1 FY27.
• Status quo: Andrew Wilson remains CEO; HQ stays in Redwood City.
• Context: Follows Microsoft’s $69B purchase of Activision Blizzard; industry consolidation continues amid post-pandemic resets and rising mobile competition.

EA just hit the biggest “continue” button in private-equity history. Now comes the hard part — shipping hits, scaling live services, and proving that this massive bet isn’t just record-breaking, it’s return-making.

Reuters, EA, AP, and CNN contributed to this report.