United States-based game maker and publisher Electronic Arts announced Monday that it will become a private company through an investor consortium that includes the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners in a deal valued at $55 billion USD.
Under the terms of this transaction EA stockholders will receive $210 per share in cash based on the unaffected share price of $168.32 at market close on Sept. 25, 2025, the last fully unaffected trading day.
The transaction was already approved by EA’s Board of Directors, with an estimated close in Q1 FY27, assuming the company can get the required regulatory approvals and the greenlight from EA stockholders. Following the close of the transaction, EA’s common stock will no longer be listed on any public market. When the transaction is complete, the consortium will own 100% of EA, the company’s headquarters remain in Redwood City, California, and will continue to be led by current CEO Andrew Wilson.
Should the investor consortium fail to obtain the regulatory approvals or choose to back out of the deal, it will pay a termination fee of $1 billion; likewise, if EA opts to take another deal or terminate this agreement, it will owe the consortium $1 billion.
In case you are unfamiliar with it, the PIF is the sovereign wealth fund of the Saudi Arabian government. Miami-based Affinity Partners was launched in 2021 by Jared Kushner, a former senior advisor to President Donald Trump in his first-term and his son-in-law. Silver Lake is a U.S.-based investment firm that has investments in such companies as Unity Technologies, Twitter/X, AMC, Jio, Motorola, Dell, Endeavor, and Broadcom, among others.
“Electronic Arts is an extraordinary company with a world-class management team and a bold vision for the future,” said Jared Kushner, CEO of Affinity Partners. “I’ve admired their ability to create iconic, lasting experiences, and as someone who grew up playing their games - and now enjoys them with his kids – I couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead.”
EA is home to a number of major esports properties including free-to-play battle royale game Apex Legends, American football series Madden NFL, and its popular football game series, EA Sports FC, as well as a massive back catalog of game franchises. The company is gearing up to release Battlefield 6 on Oct. 10, on Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. With further consolidation and ownership of the industry by the Saudi Arabian government, one can expect that the company’s most popular competitive games will be part of the country’s future esports efforts including the Esports World Cup and the future Esports Olympic Games.
In addition to having minority stakes in a number of major game makers, the PIF owns gaming and esports firm Savvy Games Group and also owns Evolution Championship Series organizer RTS through its city project Qiddiya. The fund also has minor stakes in some of the biggest publishers in the world including Nintendo and Activision Blizzard, and owns 100% of Japanese fighting games maker SNK Corporation. Savvy Games Group is also home to the ESL FACEIT Group, which includes tournament organizer ESL, esports platform FACEIT, gaming and esports festival organizer DreamHack, and UK and U.S.-based esports production firm Esports Engine.
Properties owned or tied to the Saudi Arabian government are frequently accused of helping the government engage in so-called “sports washing,” or using various forms of sport and entertainment to cover up its record on human rights, women’s rights, LGTBQ+ rights, military actions in Yemen, and more. These and other criticisms are actively highlighted by international watchdog groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.