How I Made $5000 in the Stock Market

Electronic Arts Stock Is Rising. It’s Being Bought by This Group for $55 Billion.

Sep 29, 2025 08:13:00 -0400 by Mackenzie Tatananni | #Technology

Electronic Arts said it was being taken private by a group of investors in a $55 billion deal. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg)

Key Points

Electronic Arts said Monday that it was being acquired by an investor consortium in an all-cash, take-private deal that values EA at roughly $55 billion.

Shares climbed 4.6% to $202.15 following the announcement. Rival videogame maker Take-Two Interactive Software was up 0.5%.

The group of investors includes technology investment firm Silver Lake, Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, the country’s sovereign wealth fund. The consortium will acquire 100% of EA, with PIF rolling over its existing 9.9% stake.

Meanwhile, EA shareholders will receive $210 a share in cash, which represents a 25% premium to Thursday’s closing price of $168.32.

The deal will be funded by cash from each of the three investors as well as the roll-over of PIF’s existing stake in EA, representing an equity investment of around $36 billion, plus $20 billion of debt financing from JPMorgan Chase.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, EA said. Once it is completed, CEO Andrew Wilson will continue to oversee the company, which will remain headquartered in Redwood City, Calif.

Shares plunged in January after the videogame maker said it expected bookings to decline in its fiscal third quarter, citing soft demand for its soccer-related titles.

However, the stock remains up 32% this year, outpacing a 13% gain for the S&P 500. Much of the recent investor enthusiasm has been tied to the upcoming release of Battlefield 6, with analysts positing that the delay of Take-Two’s Grand Theft Auto VI could boost demand for the title. Battlefield 6 is slated to be released on Oct. 10.

PIF invests broadly across industries in an effort to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy away from oil. This strategy has included investments in videogame companies like Nintendo, with the firm taking a stake in May 2022. In 2021, PIF invested $2 billion in Affinity Partners shortly after its founding.

Raymond James analysts noted that a potential deal would fit PIF’s “recent gaming spree,” which included the purchases of multiplayer gaming platform FACEIT and Pokémon Go distributor Scopely in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

“The PIF has made its intentions to scale its gaming arm, Savvy Gaming Group, clear, and the EA deal would represent the biggest such move to date by some distance,” the firm wrote Monday. Raymond James rates EA stock at Market Perform.

A deal would be the largest leveraged buyout in history, surpassing the $32 billion buyout of TXU Energy in 2007, analysts added. It would also be the second major U.S. video gaming publisher to leave the public market in the last three years, following Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard.

Separately on Monday, Jefferies analysts reiterated a Buy rating and $200 price target on the shares. Should the EA deal pan out, it would leave Take-Two as “the last large U.S. independent game publisher,” the firm wrote.

The firm expects both Take-Two and Roblox to receive a higher floor value following the acquisition.

“With GTA VI releasing in the next 12 months and likely to be one of the largest games of all-time, we wouldn’t expect TTWO to be eager sellers unless a larger premium is offered,” analysts wrote.

While Roblox is “less directly impacted” by a potential deal, it becomes “an even more differentiated asset for investors to access gen Z content habits.” Roblox shares gained 3.9%.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com