Major developments could be unfolding around Andrew Wilson’s company, and while the transaction’s value may not break records, it’s still a colossal sum if reports hold true. According to The Wall Street Journal, Electronic Arts is close to becoming a privately held company after private equity investors — including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Silver Lake — offered a staggering $50 billion to acquire it.

If this acquisition goes through, it would mark the largest leveraged buyout in history, according to the WSJ. The only bigger deal to date was Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard King. Details of the transaction remain unknown, and there’s no guarantee it will ultimately be finalized. High-stakes deals involving Saudi Arabia and the gaming sector have fallen apart at the last minute before — as seen with Embracer Group, when its planned agreement with Savvy Games collapsed, forcing the publisher to implement major cutbacks.

This isn’t the first time Electronic Arts has been linked to a potential ownership change. Back in 2023, reports surfaced suggesting that Disney might acquire the publisher, but the plan was ultimately scrapped, partly because CEO Bob Iger was unwilling to commit such a large investment. Disney remains hesitant to make significant moves in the gaming space, so a deal of this scale is unlikely from the Mouse House.

Still, if the WSJ report proves accurate and Electronic Arts does go private — it is currently a publicly traded company — the shift would mark a seismic change for one of the gaming industry’s largest publishers and developers. Following the publication of the Wall Street Journal article, EA’s share price reportedly surged by 15%. It’s also worth noting that Saudi Arabia already owns stakes in Nintendo and holds a majority share in SNK, so such a move wouldn’t be out of character.

Source: WCCFTech, WSJ