Electronic Arts, the publisher behind blockbuster game series like Madden, Battlefield, EA Sports FC, and The Sims, is reportedly set to be acquired in a $50 billion deal.
The deal, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, has not been confirmed by EA. But if reports are true, it would be one of the biggest leveraged buyouts, which are deals mainly financed by debt, in history. Sources say the deal could be finalized as soon as next week.
The investors in the deal are said to include technology investor Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. Reuters notes that Saudi Arabia may be attracted by the consistent earnings EA’s sports franchises bring to the table, as titles like Madden and FIFA release new editions every year.
The news comes as Saudi Arabia has been making significant investments in the world of video games in recent years. In March, Savvy Games Group, which is majority owned by Saudi Arabia’s PIF paid $3.5 billion, to buy the gaming division of Niantic, the San Francisco-based software developer behind mobile hits Pokémon Go and Monster Hunter Now. In addition to EA, the fund also has stakes in Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive. The country also hosted the 2024 Esports World Cup in Riyadh, its capital city.
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Though $50 billion is a huge sum in any industry, the rumored deal is still far off the largest gaming industry deal of all time. In January 2022, Microsoft announced plans to buy Diablo, World of Warcraft and StarCraft developer Activision Blizzard for a record-breaking $68.7 billion. The deal prompted a two-year legal battle between Microsoft and the FTC, which only wrapped up in May of this year, well over a year after the deal went through.
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