The video game publisher Electronic Arts announced on Monday that it agreed to be taken private in a deal valued at roughly $55 billion by a group of investors that includes a firm managed by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
The deal would pay stockholders $210 per share in cash, a 25 percent premium to the company’s share price before news of the deal leaked.
If completed, it would be the largest buyout of a publicly traded company to date, not adjusting for inflation. The investors would partly finance the deal with a $20 billion loan from JPMorgan Chase.
The deal is led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which already owns about 10 percent of Electronic Arts, as well as the private equity firm Silver Lake and Mr. Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
The Saudi fund is making significant strides in the gaming sector, aiming to diversify its vast investments beyond traditional oil industries. In 2021, they established the Savvy Games Group to spearhead a colossal $38 billion investment into the gaming world. This summer, Riyadh even hosted the Esports World Cup, a major video game tournament boasting an impressive $70 million in prize money.
This aggressive foray into gaming is just one aspect of the kingdom’s larger strategic push into global sports. Their portfolio already includes significant backing for LIV Golf, a direct competitor to the PGA Tour, a substantial stake in the Professional Fighters League, and considerable investments in both domestic and international soccer. Electronic Arts, a powerhouse in sports-themed video games, brings highly successful franchises like FIFA (soccer) and Madden (American football) to the table.
Turqi Alnowaiser, the deputy governor and head of international investments at the Public Investment Fund, emphasized that the Saudi fund is “uniquely positioned in the global gaming and e-sports sectors, building and supporting ecosystems.”
“I am more energized than ever about the future we are building,” said Andrew Wilson, the chief executive of Electronic Arts.
The previous record for the buyout of a public company was the $32 billion acquisition (excluding debt) of the Texas utility company TXU by a group of private equity firms in 2007.
This colossal acquisition of Electronic Arts will require approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a multi-agency panel responsible for reviewing international deals for potential national security implications. Previously, some lawmakers have expressed concerns and called for heightened scrutiny of the Saudi fund’s investments in sports, citing national security issues.
“People don’t often think about video games and national security together, but these are platforms that reach millions of Americans and often collect a lot of personal data,” said Aaron Bartnick, a former official in the Biden administration who worked on national security reviews of foreign investments and who is now a fellow at Columbia University. He suggested that the committee would “want to take a close look even if they ultimately end up signing off.”
Historically, merger reviews during the Trump administration have often factored in political considerations. The former Trump administration maintained close ties with the Saudi government, and notably, the Saudi sovereign fund holds a substantial investment in Mr. Kushner’s firm. Affinity Partners, with approximately $5.4 billion under management, is primarily recognized for acquiring smaller stakes in various companies, such as the Israeli car-leasing firm Shlomo Group and Dubizzle, a classifieds website based in Dubai.
Meanwhile, Silver Lake, managing around $110 billion, is celebrated for its role in some of the technology sector’s most significant transactions. This includes multi-billion dollar deals involving Dell Technologies, first taking the company private and then reintroducing it to the public market.
Electronic Arts would be required to pay a $1 billion termination fee if the company’s board decided against going ahead with the buyout, or if shareholders reject the deal. The investors would pay a $1 billion fee if, among other things, they were unable to secure regulatory approval.
Electronic Arts would also have to pay a fee if it spurned the buyout agreement for a better offer. Analysts had previously thought that a major media player, like Disney, could try to buy the gaming company.
In recent years, gaming companies have tried to adapt to changing player attitudes and appetites.
Console games — those made for the PlayStation and Xbox — as well as desktop computer titles, have largely been in decline. Instead, gamers have flocked to free-to-play games like Fortnite, and many play from smartphones and other mobile devices. Others have embraced casual mobile games, which do not take the same amount of time and money to develop as those made by major studios like Electronic Arts.
Analysts believe that the Saudi plan is to make some of Electronic Arts’ most popular titles widely available and possibly free to play on platforms, which could include mobile devices and streaming television apps. New growth strategies could include in-app purchases or deals with popular streamers for access to a wider audience. Netflix is currently courting gamers across its platforms on connected TVs, for instance.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. The company would remain based in Redwood City, Calif., and continue to be led by Mr. Wilson.