News
EA’s $55 Billion Take-Private Deal With Saudi PIF Closes August 4
EA's record $55 billion take-private acquisition by a PIF-led consortium closes on or about August 4, 2026, the largest all-cash sponsor take-private in history.
In this article
Today is the day. Electronic Arts’ $55 billion take-private deal with a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is expected to close on or about August 4, 2026, ending EA’s 36-year run as a public company.
The Deal
The consortium, made up of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners (the investment firm led by Jared Kushner), is paying $210 per share, a 25% premium over EA’s last unaffected trading price. It’s the largest all-cash sponsor take-private in history. PIF is rolling its existing 9.9% stake into the deal rather than cashing out, while Silver Lake and Affinity fund the rest. EA confirmed on July 30 that every regulatory approval, including the sensitive CFIUS national-security review, had been obtained.
What Changes, What Doesn’t
Andrew Wilson stays on as CEO, and EA stays headquartered in Redwood City. What does change: EA delists from NASDAQ, drops public-company reporting costs, and takes on roughly $20 billion in new debt as part of the financing, funded through JPMorgan Chase. The deal was first announced in September 2025 and shareholders approved it in December with about 99% of votes in favor, but the close slipped past its original June 30 target while regulators finished their review.
Why It Matters
This is the biggest ownership change in gaming history, and it puts EA Sports FC, Battlefield, Apex Legends, and The Sims under a private consortium with deep ties to Saudi Arabia’s broader push into global gaming and sports investment. Every EA-published game, including Split Fiction and the EA Sports FC franchise, now sits under new ownership as of today.
