PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners → Electronic Arts
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund took Electronic Arts private at an enterprise value of about $55bn, agreed in September 2025 and completed on 4 August 2026 — putting the publisher of EA Sports FC, Madden and The Sims under the control of a sovereign fund building a national games industry.
At $210 a share, the largest all-cash sponsor take-private on record.
- Value
- $55B
- Announced
- September 2025
- Completed
- August 2026
- Sector
- Media
- Deal type
- take-private
- Acquirer
- PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners (Saudi Arabia)
- Target
- Electronic Arts (United States)
Why it mattered
PIF was not a newcomer to EA: it had bought shares in 2021, owned 9.9% before the deal, and through its Savvy Games Group had pledged $37.8bn to the video-game industry and bought the mobile publisher Scopely for $4.9bn. Its partners were Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, the fund run by Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law. EA, based in Redwood City, California, had revenue of about $7.5bn in fiscal 2025 but had cut forecasts and staff that year after weaker releases.
The terms, announced on 29 September 2025, paid $210 a share in cash, a 25% premium to the undisturbed price of $168.32 on 25 September. The financing combined about $36bn of equity, including PIF's rolled-over stake, with $20bn of debt committed by JPMorgan Chase, $18bn of it expected to be drawn at closing. The Wall Street Journal reported that PIF would own about 93% of the company. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren questioned the Treasury on foreign control and security risks, and a games workers' union asked regulators for close scrutiny. EA's stockholders approved the deal on 22 December 2025, with about 201m shares for and 1.9m against. The European Commission cleared it in July 2026, finding no competition concerns, and all required approvals were in hand by 30 July.
What it left behind
The merger closed on 4 August 2026. EA left Nasdaq and the S&P 500; under the plan announced with the deal it keeps its headquarters and Andrew Wilson as chief executive. The buyer vehicle drew term loans of $6.1bn and €1.7bn plus a $3.25bn term loan A, on top of $5.4bn and €1.1bn of bonds issued in April. Before closing EA told staff there were no immediate plans to cut jobs. In September 2026 Bloomberg reported that PIF was considering combining EA with Savvy Games Group. Sovereign capital can outbid conventional sponsors on size and patience, but it brings political and security scrutiny that has to be priced into the timetable from the start, even when it does not stop a deal.