Video game mega-publisher Electronic Arts is planning to take the company private in a deal that could be worth as much as $50 billion, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and Financial Times.
All three outlets cite anonymous sources in reporting that the deal could be announced next week, with Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners reportedly interested in investing. The Wall Street Journal says the move “would likely be the largest leveraged buyout ever.”
The Saudi PIF already had a roughly 9 percent stake in EA as of a year ago, making it one of the largest shareholders in the company. That fund also has significant investments in gaming giants such as Nintendo, Take-Two, Activision Blizzard, Capcom, Nexon, and Koei Tecmo managed through the Savvy Games Group.
EA’s stock price immediately jumped roughly 15 percent on Friday afternoon, following a month in which its stock price had remained relatively flat.
EA went public with an IPO on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 1990, and by 1996 its market cap had risen to $1.61 billion. Before today’s stock price bump, the company’s valuation was hovering around $43 billion, driven by franchises such as Madden NFL, EA FC (formerly FIFA), The Sims, and Battlefield.
