Announcement • 7h
Public Investment Fund along with private investment funds affiliated with Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C. and A Fin Management LLC (Consortium) completed the acquisition of Electronic Arts Inc. (NasdaqGS:EA) from a group of shareholders.
Public Investment Fund along with private investment funds affiliated with Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C. and A Fin Management LLC (Consortium) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Electronic Arts Inc. (NasdaqGS:EA) from a group of shareholders for approximately $55 billion on September 28, 2025. As part of consideration, Electronic Arts Stockholders to Receive $210 Per Share in Cash, that values EA at an enterprise value of approximately $55 billion. The transaction will be funded by a combination of cash from each of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners as well as roll-over of PIF’s existing stake in EA, constituting an equity investment of approximately $36 billion, and $20 billion of debt financing fully and solely committed by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., $18 billion of which is expected to be funded at close. Each of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners plan to fund the equity component of the financing entirely from capital under their respective control. The merger agreement contains termination fees of $1 billion for both Electronic Arts and the buying consortium if the agreement is terminated under certain circumstances.
Upon completion of the transaction, EA will remain headquartered in Redwood City, California and continue to be led by Andrew Wilson as CEO.
The transaction was approved by EA’s and Consortium Board of Directors, is expected to close in fiscal Q1 2027 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals, HSR act approval, approval by EA and Consortium stockholders, approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and approval under foreign investment reviews. Under the merger agreement, the merger cannot be completed until the parties have received from the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (which we refer to as “CFIUS”). The merger is also subject to and cannot be completed until receipt of antitrust and/or foreign investment approvals in certain other jurisdictions, including Canada and the EU. Under the merger agreement, the merger cannot be completed until the waiting period applicable to the merger under the HSR Act has expired or been terminated. A transaction notifiable under the HSR Act may not be completed until the expiration or termination of a 30-day waiting period following the parties’ filings of their HSR Act notification and report forms. If the Federal Trade Commission (which we refer to as the “FTC”) or the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (which we refer to as the “DOJ”) issues a request for additional information and documentary materials (which we refer to as a “Second Request”) prior to the expiration of the initial waiting period, the parties must observe a second 30-day waiting period, which would begin to run only after the parties have substantially complied with the Second Request, unless the waiting period is terminated earlier or the parties otherwise agree to extend the waiting period. The parties made the required filings with the FTC and the DOJ on November 3, 2025. Following the close of the transaction, EA’s common stock will no longer be listed on any public market. As on January 23, 2026, the transaction has been approved by the shareholders of Electronic Arts Inc. As of February 9, 2026, the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act for the merger has expired, satisfying certain conditions for closing, with the merger expected to close in the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027. As of June 24, 2026, Public Investment Fund has sought EU subsidy approval for the transaction. The European Commission has set a provisional deadline of July 30 to decide on the subsidy component of the deal. On July 23, 2026, The European Union gave its approval to the takeover of the American video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. As of July 30, 2026, all regulatory approvals required to complete the merger have been obtained. Electronic Arts currently expects the merger to close on or about the close of trading on August 4, 2026.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor, fairness opinion provider to Electronic Arts Inc. Pursuant to an engagement letter between the Company and Goldman Sachs, the Company has agreed to pay Goldman Sachs a transaction fee of approximately $110 million, $10 million of which became payable upon the announcement of the merger, and the remainder of which is contingent upon consummation of the merger. Edward D. Herlihy, David K. Lam, Eric M. Feinstein, Christina C. Ma, Jeannemarie O'Brien, Benjamin S. Arfa, Justin R. Orr and T. Eiko Stange of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz LLP acted as legal advisors for Electronic Arts Inc. Maggie D. Flores, Sarkis Jebejian, Jonathan L. Davis, Lee M. Blum, Kamran S. Bajwa, Noor M. Al-Fawzan, Adam Shapiro, Conor O’Muiri, Joshua N. Korff, Zoey Hitzert, Scott D. Price, Matthew Wood, Ivan A. Schlager, Dean S. Shulman, Sehj Vather and Stephen A. Mohr of Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisor for Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C., Public Investment Fund and A Fin Management LLC. Charles Ruck, Michael Anastasio, Ian Nussbaum, Ghaith Mahmoodand Rick Offsay of Latham & Watkins LLP acted as legal advisors to Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor for Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C. Perry J. Shwachman, William R. Levi, Jonathan Blackburn, James Mendenhall, Vincent Broph and Vadim Brusser of Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal advisors for A Fin Management LLC. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisor for Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C. and A Fin Management LLC. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP acted as legal advisor to Public Investment Fund. White & Case LLP acted as legal advisor to Public Investment Fund. Innisfree M&A Incorporated acted information agent to Electronic Arts and will receive a fee of $200,000 in connection with its solicitation services. Computershare Trust Company N.A. acted as transfer agent to Electronic Arts. Laura Turano and Scott Barshay of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP represented Goldman Sachs as financial advisor to Electronic Arts, Girardet Philipp of Clifford Chance LLP acted as legal advisor to Electronic Arts Inc.
Public Investment Fund along with private investment funds affiliated with Silver Lake Technology Management, L.L.C. and A Fin Management LLC (Consortium) completed the acquisition of Electronic Arts Inc. (NasdaqGS:EA) from a group of shareholders on August 4, 2026. Under the agreement, PIF will hold a 93.4% stake in EA, while Silver Lake and Affinity Partners will own 5.5% and 1.1% respectively. EA’s common stock has ceased trading and will be delisted from NASDAQ.