A consortium of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), private equity firm Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners will take Electronic Arts private in a $55 billion all-cash transaction priced at $210 per share, the publisher said on Monday, September 29.

The deal ranks as the largest take-private of a public company on record, surpassing the $32 billion Texas utility TXU transaction of 2007. It becomes the second-largest acquisition in games industry history, trailing Microsoft's roughly $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard completed three years ago.

In its announcement, EA framed the transaction as a launchpad for its sports and live-service franchises. "The transaction positions EA to accelerate innovation and growth to build the future of entertainment," the company said in a statement.

Who is buying EA, and how is the consortium structured?

The buyer group pairs PIF with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, the Miami-based investment firm led by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law. The three will provide equity capital alongside debt financing to take the Redwood City, California-based publisher off Nasdaq.

EA has traded publicly since 1989, seven years after former Apple executive Trip Hawkins founded the company in 1982. Closing the transaction ends a 36-year run as a listed company.

What changes for EA's studios and game teams?

CEO Andrew Wilson, who has led EA since 2013, will continue in his role after the deal closes. The transaction is expected to finalize in the first quarter of EA's fiscal year 2027.

Moving off public markets means EA avoids quarterly earnings pressure and proxy-season governance demands. For studio leads and product teams working on Battlefield, Apex Legends, Need for Speed, and The Sims, the operational question is whether private ownership lengthens development cycles or accelerates live-service monetization on the publisher's sports franchises, including Madden NFL and EA SPORTS College Football.

Both sports franchises depend on multi-year NFL and NCAA licensing deals that must survive the consortium's hold period. EA posted approximately $7.5 billion in net revenue in fiscal year 2025, anchored by Madden NFL, EA SPORTS College Football, Battlefield, Apex Legends, Need for Speed, and The Sims.

What does the deal signal for the wider games M&A market?

The size and structure of the buyer consortium point to continued appetite from sovereign-backed capital for cash-flowing games publishers, validating private equity and sovereign wealth funds as serious acquirers of large games businesses. With one of the industry's two most-storied public companies leaving equity markets, suitors and targets lose a natural M&A benchmark for upcoming transactions.

For competing publishers, the consortium composition — pairing a sovereign wealth fund with a tech-focused private equity firm and a politically connected investment vehicle — sets a structural template future take-private bidders may copy.

The transaction requires regulatory clearance and an EA shareholder vote before the first-quarter fiscal 2027 closing target. Expect regulators, rival publishers, and the consortium's co-investors to watch how Silver Lake and PIF approach EA's sports licensing renewals — both of which will determine whether the $55 billion multiple holds up over a typical private-equity hold period.