EA could reportedly go private with a $50 billion deal to be revealed as early as next week between a group of investors, which includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), according to The Wall Street Journal[1].
Alongside PIF, according to people the WSJ said are familiar with the matter, private-equity firm Silver Lake is also reportedly involved with the deal. While EA has a market value of approximately $43 billion, two people told the WSJ that the behind-closed-doors discussions have valued the sports-sim maker closer to $50 billion.
According to the WSJ, if the deal comes together and goes through, this will be the “largest leveraged buyout of all time.” The last mega-buyout was in 2007, when Texas-based utility company TXU was purchased by a group of private-equity firms for about $32 billion.
Sadia Arabia has made a few investments in the games industry[2] over the last few years. The country’s mobile developer Scopely–which the Saudi government owns through PIF–scooped up Pokemon Go developer Niantic’s gaming division for $3.5 billion[3] in March 2025. The country also has stakes in both in Activision Blizzard, Take-Two[4], Embracer[5], and Nintendo[6], and currently holds a 2.6% stake in EA.
EA doesn’t need much of an introduction, but the company is best known for its widely successful sports-sim franchises like FIFA, Madden, and NBA. The latest release by the publisher has been Skate[7], the newly revamped, free-to-play skateboarding sim that will get its first official season[8] on October 7.
This story will get updated if more information becomes available.
References
- ^ The Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com)
- ^ a few investments in the games industry (www.gamespot.com)
- ^ scooped up Pokemon Go developer Niantic’s gaming division for $3.5 billion (www.gamespot.com)
- ^ Activision Blizzard, Take-Two (www.gamespot.com)
- ^ Embracer (www.gamespot.com)
- ^ Nintendo (www.gamespot.com)
- ^ Skate (www.gamespot.com)
- ^ its first official season (www.gamespot.com)