EA to go private in $55 billion buyout, one of the largest in history

Electronic ARTS (EA) video game giant agreed to get an investors group for 55 billion US dollars (about $ 76.6 billion).

The group consists of the State Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (which already has almost 10 percent of investments in EA) and the silver lake of the United States and Affinity Partners, the last of which is managed by Jared Kushner, son -in -law of US President Donald Trump. It is expected that the transaction will close in the first quarter of 2027 and will still be approved by the regulators and shareholders of EA. If the acquisition moves forward, it will become one of the largest ransom of a publicly traded company in history.

The transaction is concluded after EA observes congestive income over the past three financial years against the backdrop of a wider economic struggle in the game industry, which led to Tens of thousands of losing their jobsThe field over the past year, EA reduced five percent of its labor force, reported accelerated sales for games such as BioWare Edmonton's Dragon Age: Vulgard And he canceled the long -awaited one Black Panther game.

Naturally, although Boss salary E.A. Andrew Wilson grew up only at this timeIn addition, Wilson will remain as a general director if this new course passes. In the press of the pressHe said that the ransom will allow EA to “create transforming impressions in order to inspire generations.” In a letter to employeesWilson also tried to offer confidence that “values ​​and our commitment to players and fans around the world remain unchanged.”

Of course, many do not buy this, with great concern about what EA divides on the Internet. On the one hand, a ransom with a borrowed tool will be financed by a debt of $ 20 billion (about $ 27.8 billion), which will undoubtedly lead to serious measures to reduce expenses. Unfortunately, this can lead to mass layouts, closing the studio and aggressive monetization, among other initiatives.

Thus, it is currently unclear what this transaction may mean for many studios and objects that the California EA owns and develops in Redwood City, California. This includes bones (The battlefield) in Stockholm, Maxis from Redwood City (Sims) and Respawn based on LA (Apex Legends)

EA also has several studios in Canada. This includes EA Vancouver (EA Sports FC), Edmonton's Bioware (Mass Effect), Montreal's motive (Dead space) and the full circle of Vancouver (just released Skate) It is still unknown how this news can affect the upcoming games from these teams. For example, EA Vancouver, no doubt, is working on the next annual EA Sports FC And NHL Games, while Bioware and Motive confirm that they develop the following Mass Effect And new Iron Man The game, respectively.

And at a broader level, fears always arise when such a large company starts from the very beginning, and this only exacerbates in this case from the group of investors. Kushner’s only participation attracts a thorough study, to a large extent from his ties with Trump. Meanwhile, the Fund of the State Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is concerned its constantly growing absorptions of many global assetsas well as the problems of human rights in this country, not the last of which killing several journalists who criticized the governmentField

In other words, you can enjoy Battle Field 6 The next month, this new enterprise did not affect the last big game EA.

The image is provided: EA

Source: She