Jared Kushner backs $55 billion deal to denationalise EA gaming firm

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Saudi Arabia is trying to diversify its investments exterior of oil, which is why it’s eager about buying Electronic Arts.

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Saudi Arabia’s authorities and different backers are closing in on a $55 billion deal to buy the online game firm answerable for creating and publishing standard recreation franchises like The Sims, Madden NFL and Battlefield.

Electronic Arts, or EA, announced on Monday, Sept. 29 that it will likely be privately acquired by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake and Affinity Partners throughout the 2027 fiscal 12 months. The latter of the traders, Affinity Partners, was based by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who’s married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump.

Upon the finalization of the acquisition, EA will stay headquartered in Redwood City, California, and Andrew Wilson will proceed to function CEO, in line with a information launch.

The acquisition announcement comes lower than a month earlier than the discharge of EA’s highly-anticipated Battlefield 6. Set to launch on Oct. 10, the first-person shooter recreation has turned heads for its trailer that includes actors Zac Efron, Morgan Wallen, Jimmy Butler and Paddy Pimblett.

Here’s what to know in regards to the EA traders and the way the deal might influence customers.

How will the EA acquisition influence players?

The acquisition won’t be finalized till the 2027 fiscal 12 months, which begins in September 2026. Until then, EA prospects ought to count on no adjustments to the corporate or EA gameplay expertise.

How will the EA acquisition influence public shareholders?

Under the phrases of the settlement, public shareholders will obtain a $210 money share, in line with a information launch.

Who are the EA traders: PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners?

PIF

PIF, or the Public Investment Fund, is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is without doubt one of the largest sovereign wealth funds on the planet and its portfolio contains Uber. According to the PIF website, the fund has about $925 billion price of belongings below its administration.

Silver Lake

Private fairness firm Silver Lake was based by Glenn Hutchins and Roger McNamee in 1999. Its portfolio contains corporations like Dell Technologies, sports activities advertising and marketing firm Learfield and weight reduction firm Noom. Silver Lake is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.

Silver Lake made headlines not too long ago, because the non-public fairness firm is concerned in a preliminary deal to buy the U.S. belongings of TikTok.

Affinity Partners

Founded by Kushner in 2021, Affinity Partners in an funding firm primarily based in Miami, Florida. It focuses on investing in corporations primarily based within the United States and Israel.

Why is Saudi Arabia eager about EA?

Saudi Arabia’s curiosity in EA is a part of Saudi Vision 2030, a program which inspires the nation’s diversification of investments exterior of simply oil.

In 2021, PIF invested about $3.3 million in Activision Blizzard (World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Overwatch) and based Savvy Games Group, a online game, growth, publishing and funding firm. PIF has additionally invested in Nintendo, and Saudi Arabia hosted the 2025 ESports World Cup.

Greta Cross is a nationwide trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story concept? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.