The takeover of Electronic Arts is considered the largest leveraged company purchase in history. Behind the billion-dollar deal with Saudi participation are questions about debts, future games and the actual plans of the new owners. What do experts think about this?
In September 2025, a consortium of investors led by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF made an offer for Electronic Arts away. The key dates have now been determined. PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners take over the publisher for $55 billion. The US bank JPMorgan is providing more than $20 billion of this as a loan. The purchase should be completed by June 30, 2026.
This makes it the largest externally financed corporate takeover in history. Electronic Arts will become a private company and will no longer be required to provide quarterly reports to shareholders. This creates scope for long-term decisions.
At the same time, the loan moves to EA’s balance sheet as a debt. As of March 2026, debt stood at $1.49 billion, rising to over $20 billion upon closing. Because more than 30 percent of the purchase price comes from borrowed capital. So it is a so-called leveraged buyout (LBO).
After all: In a letter to employees, EA stated that “its mission, values and commitment to players and fans around the world remain unchanged.” How do experts view the deal?
Debt and the question of reinvestment
Experts have different assessments of how the debt burden affects you. A managing partner of an investment fund, who wishes to remain anonymous, sees this primarily as a motivation. “The company needs to focus on generating cash flow,” he told GamesIndustry.biz.
He added: “Debt forces the company to focus much more on return on capital. Debt is actually a very good and healthy engine and promotes shareholder value creation, good capital management and responsible corporate governance.”
Nick Button-Brown, angel investor and former EA employee, sees more risks. He points out that EA has consistently invested its profits into its own games, such as the spin-offs of “EA Sports FC”, which have been “fantastic” every year. From his point of view, that is exactly what is at risk.
“The problem with a debt-financed company purchase is that from this point on, the profits are no longer reinvested in the games,” believes Button-Brown. Instead, they go toward interest and servicing the debt. He sees the consequences with a time lag: “You won’t notice it next year, but you will in five years.”
Concerns also came from politicians:
Some players also fear that EA will focus more on monetization. Button-Brown believes this is unlikely, as the group, as a listed company, was already strongly focused on making a profit. He still expects cuts: Cost savings and layoffs are planned for takeovers of this type, and less profitable areas are likely to be downsized or closed.
What happens after the purchase?
Unlike a classic LBO, subsequent resale is difficult here. “EA was already listed at a fairly high price and with a reasonable valuation. The only way to sell it is through one of the big companies like Apple or Microsoft,” says Button-Brown.
After closing, the PIF will own around 93.4 percent of Electronic Arts. The anonymous investment partner expects well-known brands such as “EA Sports FC” and „Battlefield“ get more attention, while series like “The Sims,” which are less in keeping with Saudi culture, could be sold.
George Osborn of “Video Games Industry Memo” and author of “Power Play: Video Games, Politics and the Battle for Global Influence” classifies the purchase as a step in the Saudi soft power strategy. The Esports World Cup can be further expanded with titles such as “EA Sports FC”, “Madden NFL”, “College Football” and the “F1” series. It remains to be seen whether this reach can be converted into influence without damaging EA’s relationships with the sports world.
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