EA could reportedly go private with a $50 billion deal to be revealed as early as next week between a group of investors, which includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), according to The Wall Street Journal.
Alongside PIF, according to people the WSJ said are familiar with the matter, private-equity firm Silver Lake is also reportedly involved with the deal. While EA has a market value of approximately $43 billion, two people told the WSJ that the behind-closed-doors discussions have valued the sports-sim maker closer to $50 billion.
According to the WSJ, if the deal comes together and goes through, this will be the “largest leveraged buyout of all time.” The last mega-buyout was in 2007, when Texas-based utility company TXU was purchased by a group of private-equity firms for about $32 billion.
Sadia Arabia has made a few investments in the games industry over the last few years. The country’s mobile developer Scopely–which the Saudi government owns through PIF–scooped up Pokemon Go developer Niantic’s gaming division for $3.5 billion in March 2025. The country also has stakes in both in Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, Embracer, and Nintendo, and currently holds a 2.6% stake in EA.
EA doesn’t need much of an introduction, but the company is best known for its widely successful sports-sim franchises like FIFA, Madden, and NBA. The latest release by the publisher has been Skate, the newly revamped, free-to-play skateboarding sim that will get its first official season on October 7.
The country’s Public Investment Fund has also attracted significant controversy as its chairman is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. One of the most powerful people in Saudi Arabia and the de facto ruler of the country, he’s now widely considered to be responsible for the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The country has been accused of a wide range of human rights violations, as well.
Saudi Arabia has been significantly involved in sports over the last several years, including forming the LIV golf organization, which caused major controversy after several PGA golfers jumped ship. The two organizations laterannounced plans to merge, but this has not happened.
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