Saudi wealth fund and Jared Kushner's Affinity finalize $55 billion EA Sports deal
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- Public Investment Fund completed its $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts alongside Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, the private equity firm led by Jared Kushner
- Electronic Arts confirmed the deal late Tuesday; its stock ceased trading and will be delisted from Nasdaq, with shareholders receiving $210 per share in cash
- PIF is borrowing $20 billion from deal advisor JPMorgan to finalize the transaction, which analysts called the largest leveraged buyout in history
- PIF head of international investments Turqi Alnowaiser called entertainment and sports "key areas of strategic focus," framing the deal as the latest move in Saudi Arabia's expansion into sports and gaming
- Analysts told CNBC the debt load will push EA to consolidate around its safest franchises—The Sims, Battlefield, and sports titles—rather than experiment with new intellectual property
- Michael Futter, founder of game-industry consultancy F-Squared, said leadership will entrench themselves in high-revenue titles and warned of potential layoffs, studio closures, and IP sell-offs to service the debt
Why it matters: EA now carries roughly $20 billion in acquisition debt borrowed from JPMorgan, and analysts warn that load will push the publisher to retrench around proven franchises rather than fund new bets. F-Squared's Michael Futter said EA may need significant layoffs, studio closures, or IP sell-offs simply to service the obligations.
