Electronic Arts stopped being a publicly traded company on August 4, 2026, when it announced that its acquisition by a consortium of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake and Affinity Partners had closed. EA's stock stopped trading and is being removed from NASDAQ. At $55 billion, it is described as the largest leveraged buyout on record, surpassing the $45 billion buyout of Texas utility TXU in 2007.
Who paid what
Shareholders receive $210 per share in cash, about a 25% premium over EA's unaffected share price of roughly $168 on September 25, 2025. The deal is funded with about $36 billion in equity, including PIF's rollover of the 9.9% EA stake it already held, plus $20 billion of debt committed by JPMorgan. According to The Next Web, PIF now owns about 93% of EA. Affinity Partners is the Miami-based firm founded in 2021 by Jared Kushner.
Andrew Wilson stays on as CEO. "We're entering this next chapter from a position of strength with partners who share our vision and ambition," he said in EA's announcement.
Ten months to close
The deal was announced on September 29, 2025, and EA stockholders approved it at a special meeting on December 22, 2025. The last hurdle was the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviewed it for months. EA said in an SEC filing that all required approvals, CFIUS included, had been obtained by July 30, 2026, a few days before closing.
The criticism
Opposition came from several directions:
- US senators: in October 2025, Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who chairs CFIUS, warning that a Saudi government-aligned investor could enable "surveillance of Americans, covert propaganda, and selective retaliation or censorship."
- EA workers: unionized employees represented by the CWA launched a petition, arguing that the $20 billion of debt could drive layoffs. EA told staff there would be "no immediate changes" to jobs or structure.
- Human rights: coverage of the deal points to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's control of PIF, and to the 2019 UN finding on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which Saudi Arabia denies.
What it could mean for players
The debt is the part to watch. Analyst Michael Futter told CNBC he doesn't know how EA will service it "without significant layoffs, studio closures, and possibly IP sell-off," and Bloomberg's Jason Schreier predicted more aggressive monetization. EA and its owners have signaled no change to creative control.
For EA's own games this season, see our EA Sports FC 27 review roundup and our Battlefield 6 one-year check-in.
Sources
- EA: EA announces completion of acquisition by PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners
- The Next Web: The biggest leveraged buyout in history just took EA private
- Tech Insider: EU clears $55B EA buyout, CFIUS approval secured
- Item Level: EA's $55B Saudi-led buyout faces intense opposition from US senators and EA employees
