❗️Saudi Arabia & Jared Kushner to buyout videogame company Electronic Arts

Video game giant Electronic Arts will be taken private in a record-setting $55 billion leveraged buyout by a consortium that includes private equity firm Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, the company announced today.

If completed, it would mark the largest leveraged buyout in history, surpassing TXU Energy’s 2007 acquisition and other major deals on record, including those involving Toys R Us and Hertz.

Under the agreement, EA shareholders will receive $210 per share in cash, a 25% premium to the closing price on 25 September before deal rumors surfaced. The deal carries an equity value of $52.54 billion, according to Reuters calculations.

Electronic Arts stated that the deal includes approximately $36 billion in equity investment and $20 billion in debt financing provided by JPMorgan, with $18 billion of that debt expected to be drawn at the close of the transaction.