It is official: EA goes private in the largest leveraged buyout in corporate history. Electronic Arts stopped trading on the Nasdaq as the deal closed on August 4, 2026.
The price tag is 55 billion dollars. The buyer is a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Here are the seven things that actually matter now that EA goes private, from who owns Madden to what happens to game prices.
Quick Guide: What This Article Covers
- The deal, the date, and the delisting
- Who owns EA now
- How 55 billion dollars was financed
- What happens to Madden, FC and Apex
- Will games get more expensive?
- Why the mega-LBO came back
- The debt risk nobody is talking about
- Frequently asked questions
EA Goes Private: The Deal in Numbers
The agreement was announced on September 29, 2025. Regulatory approvals took ten months.
- Total value: 55 billion dollars
- Price per share: 210 dollars, a premium of about 25 percent
- Closing date: on or about the close of trading, August 4, 2026
- Status: delisted from the Nasdaq, 100 percent privately held
- Record: the largest leveraged buyout ever completed
Shares stopped trading before the opening bell that Wednesday. Anyone who still held EA stock was cashed out at 210 dollars.
Who Owns EA Now That EA Goes Private?
Three parties, and the split is not close.
- Public Investment Fund (Saudi Arabia) — 93.4 percent. Effectively total control
- Silver Lake — 5.5 percent. The technology private equity firm brought in for operational expertise
- Affinity Partners — 1.1 percent. A minority financial stake
PIF was already EA’s largest outside shareholder before the bid, so this was an increase in a position rather than a cold approach.
How the Money Was Put Together
Roughly 36 billion dollars in equity and 20 billion dollars in committed debt.
JPMorgan Chase fully committed the debt package, with an estimated 18 billion dollars actually drawn at closing.
That equity share is unusually high for an LBO, which is the main reason lenders were willing to write a cheque this size at all.
What Happens to Madden, EA Sports FC and Apex Legends?
Nothing immediate. Release calendars for the current cycle are locked and studios keep shipping.
- EA Sports FC — the crown jewel, and the reason the price was this high. Annual, recurring, and hugely profitable
- Madden NFL — a protected licence with no realistic competitor
- Apex Legends — live-service revenue that funds everything else
- The Sims — a franchise with decades of catalogue value
- Battlefield — the riskiest line, and the one most likely to be restructured
The real change is invisible to players. When EA goes private, quarterly earnings calls disappear, and with them the pressure to hit a number every ninety days.
Will Games Get More Expensive?
Probably, but not because of the ownership change specifically.
Servicing 18 billion dollars of drawn debt requires reliable cash flow. The reliable cash in gaming comes from live-service monetisation, seasonal passes, and Ultimate Team style modes.
Expect more of that, not less. The optimistic reading is that private ownership also allows longer development cycles and fewer rushed launches.
Why the Mega-LBO Came Back in 2026
Deals this large had been extinct since the financial crisis. Two things changed.
- Sovereign wealth funds now write equity cheques no traditional buyout firm can match
- Credit markets reopened to 20 billion dollar packages for businesses with predictable recurring revenue
EA fit both conditions perfectly: sticky annual franchises, licensed sports moats, and enormous free cash flow. The fact that EA goes private at a record valuation says as much about capital markets as it does about gaming.
For more on where the industry’s money is flowing, see our analysis of big tech spending in 2026.
The Risk Nobody Is Highlighting
Debt does not care about creative ambition.
If one EA Sports FC cycle underperforms, interest payments still come due. That is the mechanism that historically produced studio closures and layoffs at post-LBO companies.
There is also the governance question. A single sovereign investor holding 93.4 percent of a company that shapes global sports and youth entertainment is a genuinely new arrangement, and one worth watching. You can read the ownership breakdown at Gulf News and EA’s own statements at EA News.
EA Goes Private: FAQ
Can I still buy EA stock?
No. EA delisted from the Nasdaq on August 4, 2026. Shares are no longer publicly traded, and existing holders were paid 210 dollars per share in cash.
Will EA games leave Xbox Game Pass?
Existing distribution agreements remain in force. Nothing has been announced about changing platform deals.
Is this the largest buyout ever?
Yes. At 55 billion dollars it is the biggest leveraged buyout ever completed, surpassing the pre-2008 record deals.
Does EA keep the same leadership?
Existing management continues to run the company under the new owners, with Silver Lake providing operational input.
Why did EA go private at all?
Shareholders accepted a 25 percent premium. For PIF, EA goes private because owning outright removes public-market scrutiny and secures a permanent position in global sports entertainment.
The Bottom Line
EA goes private in the biggest buyout ever recorded, and the immediate effect on your game library is nothing at all.
The interesting part arrives in two or three years, once the debt schedule starts shaping which studios get funded and which quietly disappear.
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