Saudi PIF Closes $55 Billion EA Buyout, the Largest LBO in History

Electronic Arts is no longer a public company. The Redwood City, California game publisher delisted from Nasdaq on August 4 after a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund completed a $55 billion all-cash acquisition, closing what is now the largest leveraged buyout in corporate history.

Shareholders received $210 per share in cash, according to an SEC filing reviewed by Reuters. That price represents a 25% premium to EA's unaffected close of $168.32 on September 25, 2025, the last trading day before deal rumors surfaced. The deal was announced that following Monday, approved by EA stockholders at a special meeting in December 2025, and cleared its final regulatory hurdle by July 30, per the SEC filing.

The ownership math is lopsided. According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, PIF controls roughly 93.4% of the company post-close. Silver Lake, the US private equity firm, holds approximately 5% to 5.5%, and Affinity Partners, the firm run by Jared Kushner, takes around 1.1%.

The financing structure is what gives this deal its historic label. As reported by Gulf News, the transaction was funded by roughly $36 billion in equity contributions and $20 billion in debt, all of it arranged by JPMorgan Chase. That debt load surpasses the roughly $45 billion TXU Energy buyout of 2007, the previous record holder, according to a deal history published by Wikipedia.

The $20 billion hanging over the company is the number that matters most to anyone watching EA's creative pipeline. Analysts told CNBC that the debt burden will push management to consolidate around EA's safest franchises, such as The Sims, Battlefield, and its sports titles, rather than develop new intellectual property. The company confirmed to CNBC that its stock has ceased trading on Nasdaq.

EA's most recent fiscal quarter produced $387 million in net profit, according to Eastern Herald. That's the baseline the new owners are working from. With $20 billion in debt service ahead, the margin for a franchise miss narrows considerably. The deal originally targeted a close by June 30 but slipped about five weeks as antitrust and national-security reviews dragged on, per GamesReviews.com.

PIF has framed the acquisition through its Vision 2030 mandate. The fund already holds minority stakes in Nintendo, Capcom, and Nexon, and controls Savvy Games Group outright, according to an analysis published by Gameluster. EA adds scale to that portfolio that none of the others match: franchises reaching more than 150 countries and a live-services business that generates recurring revenue rather than one-time box sales.

EA was also removed from the S&P 500 ahead of August 4's market open, with Ferguson Enterprises taking its place, according to TechStock. That means index funds had to sell their EA positions into the $210 cash price. Any upside or downside from here belongs entirely to the consortium and its lenders.

The question CNBC put to analysts last year hasn't gone away: how does EA service this debt without material cuts to headcount, studio footprints, or legacy IP? CEO Andrew Wilson, who stays in the role, hasn't answered it publicly. The confirmed 2026 release slate, including Madden NFL 27, FC 27, and NHL 27, proceeds as planned. What happens in fiscal year 2028 and beyond is a private-company problem now.

Sources cited:
- Reuters (via SEC filing) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leveraged_buyout_of_Electronic_Arts)
- The Wall Street Journal (ownership percentages, via Gameluster) (https://gameluster.com/ea-acquisition-pif-leveraged-buyout/)
- Gulf News (financing structure) (https://gulfnews.com/business/markets/saudi-arabias-pif-led-consortium-buys-electronic-arts-ea-for-55-billion-1.500287836)
- CNBC (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/05/saudi-wealth-fund-jared-kushner-ea-sports-deal.html)
- Eastern Herald (https://easternherald.com/2026/08/05/ea-electronic-arts-pif-saudi-55-billion/)
- GamesReviews.com (regulatory timeline) (https://gamesreviews.com/news/07/eas-55b-go-private-deal-with-pif-silver-lake-set-to-close-august-4/)
- TechStock (S&P 500 removal) (https://ts2.tech/en/electronic-arts-nasdaqea-delists-from-nasdaq-at-210-transferring-bookings-risk-to-new-holders/)