Shares of Electronic Arts jumped over 14% on Friday following a Wall Street Journal report that the video game publisher known for “The Sims,” “Battlefield” and “Madden” franchises is nearing a $50 billion deal to be taken private.
A group of investors including Silver Lake, Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund could unveil a deal as early as next week, according to the outlet. Two sources familiar with the matter told the Journal that the deal could value EA at as much as $50 billion, though they noted discussions on price were still underway. PIF already holds a roughly 10% stake in EA.
Representatives for EA, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
If approved, the deal would be the largest leveraged buyout of all time, surpassing the 2007 purchase of Texas utility TXU by a group of private-equity firms for around $32 billion, not including assumed debt, according to the Journal.
EA’s market cap currently sits at $48.38 billion, with its stock hitting a new 52-week high of $193.95 per share on Friday.
EA shares are up 11.56% in the past five days, 12.26% in the past month, 33% in the past six months, 32% year to date, 34% in the past year and 47.4% in the past five years.
