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Saudi-led group completes $55bn purchase of gaming giant EA
BBC News ^ | August 4, 2026 | Laura Cress

Posted on 08/04/2026 8:53:03 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

The sale of gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) for $55bn (Β£41bn) to a group of buyers including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been finalised.

The American company is known for making and publishing best-selling games such as EA FC, formerly known as Fifa, The Sims and Mass Effect.

The investors, who include Affinity Partners - led by President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner - are taking EA private, meaning all of its public shares will be purchased and it will no longer be traded on a stock exchange.

It is thought to be the largest leveraged buyout in history, meaning a significant part of it is paid for with borrowed money, which the company will have to pay back.

This is because as well as the $36bn it has already put into the deal, PIF needs to borrow $20bn from investment bankers JPMorgan to close it, with the business taking on the debt.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Hobbies
KEYWORDS:
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1 posted on 08/04/2026 8:53:03 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Not that I follow video gaming but will we see Jihad 26 soon?


2 posted on 08/04/2026 8:56:38 PM PDT by xp38
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To: MinorityRepublican

meaning all of its public shares will be purchased and it will no longer be traded on a stock exchange.+


That is an interesting trend to be aware of.


3 posted on 08/04/2026 9:01:53 PM PDT by PeterPrinciple ((Thinking Caps are no longer being issued, but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere))
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To: MinorityRepublican

Grand Theft Camel


4 posted on 08/04/2026 9:03:10 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

I used to play their games, a long time back.


5 posted on 08/04/2026 10:15:55 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

They ruined Bioware.


6 posted on 08/04/2026 10:24:14 PM PDT by 31R1O (The people who can control themselves ought to be able to defend themselves from those who can't.)
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To: 31R1O

π˜›π˜©π˜¦π˜Ί 𝘳𝘢π˜ͺ𝘯𝘦π˜₯ π˜‰π˜ͺ𝘰𝘸𝘒𝘳𝘦

Maxxis, and Origin too. They released a Battlefront game in which you could play as a black woman fighting for the Kaiser in World War 1. EA ruined the legacy of the X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter games with that abomination Star Wars: Squadrons. EA has been horrible for a couple of decades now.


7 posted on 08/05/2026 2:25:01 AM PDT by Antihero101607
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To: All

Hope they drive it into the ground. Then maybe Richard Garriot can get Ultima back


8 posted on 08/05/2026 2:56:56 AM PDT by escapefromboston (Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.)
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