Video game company behind "The Sims" to be acquired in $55 billion deal
- - Video game company behind "The Sims" to be acquired in $55 billion deal
Mary CunninghamSeptember 29, 2025 at 11:17 PM
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Video game company Electronic Arts (EA), known as the maker of the "The Sims" and "Madden NFL," is being acquired in a $55 billion deal.
The California-based company said Monday it had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by a consortium of companies that includes Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF; private equity firm Silver Lake, and Miami-based investment firm Affinity Partners, which is led by President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
If finalized, the deal would be the most expensive acquisition of a public company to be taken private in history — surpassing the $32 billion paid to take Texas utility TXU in 2007 to go private.
"The transaction positions EA to accelerate innovation and growth to build the future of entertainment," the company said in a statement.
As part of the agreement, which is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, stockholders will receive $210 per share in cash. Andrew Wilson, who has served as EA's CEO since 2013, will continue to lead the company once the transaction is completed, EA said.
Electronic Arts, which is headquartered in Redwood City, California, oversees a suite of popular video games including "Battlefield," "Apex Legends," "EA SPORTS College Football" and "Need for Speed" among others. In fiscal year 2025, the company posted a net revenue of approximately $7.5 billion.
The company was founded by former Apple employee Trip Hawkins in 1982. If the transaction closes as anticipated, it will end EA's 36-year history as a publicly traded company.
The $55 billion acquisition would be one of the biggest game industry deals to date. The largest, according to Statista, was three years ago, when Microsoft bought video game company Activision Blizzard for approximately $69 billion.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
