Electronic Arts sold in $55 billion leveraged buyout

Electronic Arts, one of the world's largest video game publishers, has been taken private in a landmark $55 billion leveraged buyout led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). The transaction, which closed on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, ends EA's decades-long status as a publicly traded company and places it under the majority ownership of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, alongside private equity firm Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, the investment firm founded by Jared Kushner.

Under the terms of the deal, the investor consortium acquired 100% of EA's shares. Stockholders will receive $210 per share in cash, representing a 25% premium over the company's unaffected share price from September 2025. The transaction, the largest leveraged buyout in history, was financed by approximately $36 billion in equity from the consortium-including the rollover of PIF's existing 9.9% stake-and $20 billion in debt financing from J.P. Morgan Chase. EA's common stock has ceased trading and will be delisted from the NASDAQ.

The deal secured all necessary regulatory approvals, including from U.S. and European Union authorities, on July 30, clearing the way for its completion. EA will...