EA confirms it will go private in $55 billion acquisition<p style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">Beleaguered video game giant Electronic Arts has agreed to a $55 billion acquisition that will take the company private. Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake and Affinity Partners have reached a deal to buy EA, the company said in</span><a target="_blank" class="link" href="
https://news.DELETED/press-releases/press-releases-details/2025/EA-Announces-Agreement-to-be-Acquired-by-PIF-Silver-Lake-and-Affinity-Partners-for-55-Billion/default.aspx"><span style="color:rgb(17, 85, 204);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"> a statement</span>[/url]<span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">. </span></p><p style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">Some details about the proposed arrangement </span><a target="_blank" class="link" href="
https://news.DELETED/press-releases/press-releases-details/2025/EA-Announces-Agreement-to-be-Acquired-by-PIF-Silver-Lake-and-Affinity-Partners-for-55-Billion/default.aspx"><span style="color:rgb(17, 85, 204);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">surfaced</span>[/url]<span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"> over the weekend. The deal, the largest-ever </span><a target="_blank" class="link" href="
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-29/ea-agrees-to-sale-in-largest-leveraged-buyout-on-record"><span style="color:rgb(17, 85, 204);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">leveraged buyout</span>[/url]<span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">, according to
Bloomberg, marks the end of EA's 35-year run as a publicly traded company. “Our creative and passionate teams at EA have delivered extraordinary experiences for hundreds of millions of fans, built some of the world’s most iconic IP, and created significant value for our business," EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in a statement. "This moment is a powerful recognition of their remarkable work."</span></p><p style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">EA hasn't been immune from the forces that </span><a target="_blank" class="link" href="
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/video-games-weekly-every-time-this-industry-grows-it-shrinks-234020383.html"><span style="color:rgb(17, 85, 204);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">have upended</span>[/url]<span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"> the games industry. Last year, the company laid off more than </span><a target="_blank" class="link" href="
https://www.engadget.com/ea-is-laying-off-over-650-employees-221221637.html"><span style="color:rgb(17, 85, 204);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">650 employees</span>[/url]<span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">, which it labeled an attempt at "streamlining" its business. This year, the company has canceled an upcoming
Black Panther game and </span><a target="_blank" class="link" href="
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ea-cancels-black-panther-game-and-closes-studio-developing-it-213258110.html"><span style="color:rgb(17, 85, 204);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">closed the studio</span>[/url]<span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"> behind it, and has reportedly "</span><a target="_blank" class="link" href="
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ea-cancels-black-panther-game-and-closes-studio-developing-it-213258110.html"><span style="color:rgb(17, 85, 204);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">shelved</span>[/url]<span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">" its Need For Speed Franchise.</span></p><p style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">The company said it expects the deal to close sometime in the first quarter of 2027, noting that it will need regulatory approvals. EA said that Wilson will continue as CEO and that its Redwood City, California headquarters will not change. In a statement Silver Lake Co-CEO Egon Durban said that the group plans to "invest heavily" in the video game company and help it "expand its reach worldwide." Silver Lake is also part of the </span><a target="_blank" class="link" href="
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/trump-signs-executive-order-saying-his-tiktok-deal-is-legal-204607521.html"><span style="color:rgb(17, 85, 204);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;">forthcoming deal</span>[/url]<span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"> to spin off the US version of TikTok into a new, American-owned company. </span></p><p style="text-align:left;">
</p><p style="text-align:left;"></p>This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/ea-confirms-it-will-go-private-in-55-billion-acquisition-133841614.html?src=rssSource:
EA confirms it will go private in $55 billion acquisition
