Key Highlights

  • Electronic Arts Inc.'s USD 55 billion take-private deal is set to officially close this week.
  • The deal is backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners.
  • It stands as the largest leveraged buyout in technology industry history.
  • The closing marks the end of Electronic Arts' run as a publicly traded company.

A Historic Buyout Reaches Its Conclusion

Electronic Arts Inc.'s roughly USD 55 billion take-private transaction is set to officially close this week, marking the completion of what stands as the largest leveraged buyout in the history of the technology industry. A deal of this scale required an extensive financing structure combining substantial Equity commitments from its sponsor group with significant debt financing, a combination that made the transaction's size and structure closely watched throughout the Private Equity and gaming industries. The deal closed at USD 210 per share in cash, a 25 percent premium, financed with roughly USD 36 billion in equity, split about 93.4 percent from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, 5.5 percent from Silver Lake and 1.1 percent from Affinity Partners, plus USD 20 billion in debt arranged by JPMorgan Chase. Affinity Partners' Jared Kushner reportedly approached Silver Lake's Egon Durban about the deal in August 2025, using ties to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to help secure the sovereign-wealth backing.

The Consortium Behind the Deal

The buyout is backed by a consortium including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, bringing together sovereign Wealth Capital and traditional private equity expertise in a structure that reflects the growing role of sovereign investors in large-scale technology and entertainment buyouts. The scale of capital required for a transaction this size necessitated this kind of multi-party consortium approach rather than a single acquirer.

What Going Private Means for Electronic Arts

Once the deal closes this week, Electronic Arts will operate as a private company, freeing management from the quarterly Earnings scrutiny that comes with public-company status and potentially allowing for longer-term strategic decisions around game development and Franchise investment. Going private buyouts of this kind often precede significant changes in capital allocation strategy, cost structure, or portfolio focus as new ownership implements its own strategic priorities away from public-market pressure.

Where Things Stand

Electronic Arts' USD 55 billion go-private buyout closing this week caps the largest leveraged buyout in technology history, bringing sovereign wealth and private equity capital together to take one of gaming's largest publishers private. How the new ownership group approaches strategic and capital-allocation decisions will likely shape the company's direction in the years ahead.