EA’s $55bn Saudi PIF-Kushner Buyout Officially Closes, Layoff Fears Mount
Electronic Arts has officially become a private company after its record-breaking $55 billion buyout by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), private equity firm Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners closed on Tuesday, August 4. The deal is the largest leveraged buyout in corporate history, and it lands on a publisher that has already cut hundreds of jobs across its biggest studios in the past year, fuelling widespread fears among developers of further mass layoffs now that EA no longer answers to public shareholders.
EA confirmed the closing in an official announcement, with Chairman and CEO Andrew Wilson telling staff, “This moment recognizes the extraordinary people whose creativity, ambition and passion have made EA one of the world’s leading interactive entertainment companies.” He added that the company is “entering this next chapter from a position of strength with partners who share our vision and ambition. Together, we’ll invest boldly, accelerate innovation, and build the next generation of games and experiences for the hundreds” of millions of players who follow its franchises.
Largest Leveraged Buyout in History Closes at $210 a Share
Under the terms of the agreement, the Consortium acquired 100% of EA, with PIF rolling over its existing 9.9% stake in the company, and EA stockholders receiving $210 per share in cash. That price represented a 25% premium to EA’s unaffected share price of $168.32 at market close on September 25, 2025, the last fully unaffected trading day, and a premium to EA’s unaffected all-time high of $179.01 at market close on August 14, 2025.
The transaction values EA at an enterprise value of roughly $55 billion and is funded through a combination of cash from each of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners as well as roll-over of PIF’s existing stake in EA, constituting an equity investment of approximately $36 billion, and $20 billion of debt financing fully and solely committed by JPMorgan Chase Bank. GameSpot described it as “the biggest leveraged buyout (LBO) in the history of commerce.”
PIF Takes 93.4% of EA, Kushner’s Affinity Partners Holds 1.1%
Ownership of the newly private publisher is heavily concentrated in Riyadh’s hands. According to EA’s closing disclosures, Saudi Arabia’s PIF took ownership of 93.4% of EA’s shares, with 1.1% going to Affinity Partners, the investment firm led by US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the remaining 5.5% going to Silver Lake.
That split hands PIF effective control over some of gaming’s most recognisable franchises. As ghacks.net put it, the sale “grants PIF a nearly 94% stake, with Silver Lake Partners holding 5.5% and Affinity Partners, founded by Jared Kushner, holding 1.1%,” confirming EA remains headquartered in Redwood City with Wilson staying on as CEO. Silver Lake’s Egon Durban framed the deal in growth terms, saying the firms are “proud to join with PIF and Affinity Partners to invest heavily in EA’s growth, including what AI can do to enhance game development and player experience.”
Battlefield, Skate and Respawn Layoffs Already Preceded Closing Day
The closing does not arrive in a vacuum. Reporting from DualShockers notes that EA has been installing cost-cutting measures across its franchises, even discontinuing support for Apex Legends on some platforms, and that in 2026 alone EA axed over 300 employees at studios like Respawn Entertainment, developer of Apex Legends and Titanfall. Cuts also hit Full Circle, the studio behind last year’s Skate relaunch.
Multiple outlets have separately confirmed layoffs across EA’s Battlefield pipeline, including DICE, Criterion, Ripple Effect and Motive, in the run-up to the sale. GameSpot cautions that, despite the anxiety, “the $55 billion deal includes billions in debt for EA, which has prompted fears of massive cost-cutting with projected layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations,” but that “nothing has been confirmed as of yet.” ghacks.net similarly reports that, “EA and its new owners have not announced specific plans for individual studios, franchises, or staffing following the sale,” and that “the scale and timing of any layoffs remain unconfirmed.”
$125 Million Exit Package Adds to CEO Pay Scrutiny
The closing has renewed criticism of executive pay at EA even as rank-and-file staff face uncertainty. Wilson earned $38.6 million in fiscal 2026, an 8% increase on the prior year, months after the company trimmed jobs from the Battlefield 6 team. Under EA’s own change-in-control filing, if Wilson is terminated without cause within 18 months of the deal’s close, he stands to gain more than $125 million in severance, stock and other financial rewards.
That package breaks down, according to reporting on EA’s SEC filing, into a $9.1 million cash severance payment, an additional bonus, and full vesting of his outstanding company stock, bringing his total termination package to a staggering $125 million. Analysts note the payout is unlikely to be triggered, since Wilson is staying on and is “respected among his industry peers”, but the timing next to fresh layoffs and a new $20 billion debt load has made it a lightning rod for critics of the sale.
What It Means for ANZ Players of EA Sports FC and Apex Legends
For Australian and New Zealand players, the immediate, day-to-day experience of EA’s live-service titles — EA Sports FC, Apex Legends, Battlefield 6 and The Sims — is unchanged; no pricing, server or regional availability changes have been announced alongside the closing. The bigger question for the region’s large FC and Apex communities is whether debt-servicing pressure eventually reshapes live-service content cadence, esports support or studio investment down the track, given PIF’s parallel ambitions in gaming and esports through its Savvy Games Group.
Because EA has now delisted from Nasdaq, it will also stop filing the quarterly and annual disclosures that previously gave outside observers, including local media, a window into franchise-level performance and staffing changes. That loss of transparency means future layoffs or studio restructures at EA-owned teams may become harder to track independently than they have been in the past.
Read also: Refactor Games Lays Off 85% of Staff Weeks After Netflix FIFA World Cup Launch
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