Video game developer Electronic Arts is close to a deal to become a private company, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. This leveraged deal could be the largest of its kind in history, the newspaper said.
Details
A group of investors including investment firm Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF and former Donald Trump adviser Jared Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners could announce the purchase of the company as early as next week, WSJ sources said. PIF already owns about 10% of Electronic Arts. EA could be valued at up to $50 billion as part of the deal, but discussions on terms are still ongoing, the two sources said.
If the deal is finalized, it will become the largest leveraged buyout in the history of the company (not adjusted for inflation), WSJ writes. Now the first place belongs to TXU, which supplies electricity: in 2007, it was acquired by a group of investors for about $32 billion, excluding debt, the newspaper cited Dealogic data.
Electronic Arts shares soared 17% in U.S. trading and ended the day up 14.8% to $193.21. Prior to The Wall Street Journal's report, the company's market capitalization was about $43 billion. The newspaper did not cite EA's comment. Bloomberg was unable to reach representatives for EA, Silver Lake and PIF for comment.
Context
Electronic Arts is known for developing video games such as the soccer simulator FIFA (now called FC), The Sims series, and a number of games based on the Star Wars universe, including Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The company was founded by former Apple employee Trip Hawkins and began creating video games in the early 1980s.
EA stock is up 32% since the start of 2025 (including Friday's surge). The securities have 30 recommendations from analysts, with most advising to hold - 16 rating Hold, MarketWatch shows. Another 12 analysts think you should buy the stock (11 Buy and two Overweight), one thinks you should sell it (Underweight). The average target price of $176.17 implies a 9% decline in quotes compared to the closing price on Sept. 26.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
