Electronic Arts will complete its $55 billion take-private transaction on 4 August, ending more than three decades as a publicly traded company and cementing the deal as the largest leveraged buyout in history.

A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), private-equity firm Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners — the investment firm founded by Jared Kushner — agreed to pay EA shareholders $210 per share in cash.

What does the financing structure look like?

Approximately $20 billion of the $55 billion purchase price carries debt financing, a ratio that places the transaction ahead of every prior LBO by total value.

Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023 remains the largest gaming acquisition overall, but it did not rely on the leveraged structure EA's deal uses.

The buyout cleared its final regulatory hurdle last week with approval under the European Union's Foreign Subsidies Regulation. EU reviewers examined the PIF's contribution to the consortium given Saudi Arabia's expanding investments in gaming and esports.

Why does going private change EA's operations?

Once delisted, EA will no longer file quarterly earnings, host analyst calls, or publish the material disclosures required under SEC oversight. Private ownership gives the consortium greater discretion over capital allocation, M&A activity, and long-range investment decisions.

EA's franchises — EA Sports FC, Madden NFL, The Sims, Battlefield, and Apex Legends — operate on multi-year live-service and content roadmaps. Quarterly earnings pressure on those roadmaps will give way to longer planning horizons.

The shift also removes the public-market scrutiny that often forces publishers to defend content decisions against short-term investor expectations.

Who runs EA after the deal?

CEO Andrew Wilson will continue to lead the publisher from its Redwood City, California headquarters. The consortium has not announced structural changes to EA's existing leadership team or studio footprint.

The PIF already held a stake in EA prior to the transaction. Acquiring EA formalizes PIF control of one of the world's ten largest game publishers by revenue, and the fund has been increasing its presence in gaming as part of Saudi Arabia's broader plan to diversify revenue beyond oil.

How does EA fit the wider consolidation wave?

The transaction lands in a 24-month window that has included Microsoft's Activision Blizzard purchase, Sony's continued buildout of live-service operations, and Tencent's expansion of its global publishing footprint.

Sovereign wealth funds and private-equity firms have moved aggressively into gaming, drawn by recurring in-game spending and franchise IP that scales across platforms.

EA's private status will likely accelerate that capital shift: without SEC reporting obligations, comparable transaction and operating data on one of the industry's biggest publishers becomes harder to track in real time.

What happens next?

The 4 August close triggers settlement, after which EA shares stop trading on Nasdaq and shareholders receive $210 per share in cash. The consortium will not be required to publish audited financials, leaving industry analysts to gauge EA's performance through parent-level disclosures, NPD data, and selective operational milestones the new owners choose to release.

Watch PIF's first post-close strategic statement for the earliest signal on whether the new owners tilt EA toward aggressive live-service monetization, selective studio divestiture, or accelerated M&A inside the consortium's wider portfolio.