Electronic Arts: Acquisition Completed

On September 29 last year, Electronic Arts announced that it had accepted an acquisition offer from a consortium of investors, for a total sum estimated at around 55 billion dollars. The consortium includes PIF, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, along with US companies Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. Three months later, the offer had also been accepted by shareholders.

Electronic Arts Passes into Arab Hands

Electronic Arts has announced the completion of the operation: it is the second largest acquisition in video game history, after that of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. Control of the US company passes into the hands of PIF, which now holds 93.4% of EA's shares. The company is being delisted from Nasdaq: shareholders will receive 210 dollars cash for each share owned.

But What Happens Now at EA?

Of the total invested to acquire Electronic Arts, a staggering 20 billion was obtained through debt: this monstrous sum will weigh on the company's own coffers. To cope with the delicate financial situation, EA will inevitably have to make profound changes, which will likely have a major impact on the workforce. We delve deeper into the discussion in this special report.