We’re just around a week away from witnessing Electronic Arts (EA) stop being a public company as it’s set to change hands and operate under a new ownership group, so for everyone who had been playing games made by EA since their childhood, it’s officially the end of an era. Based on an SEC filling on this Thursday, it’s confirmed that EA has been able to gain all the regulatory approvals required to move forward with the company’s sale to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund along with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners.
And with all the necessary approvals in place, the $55 billion sale is currently expected to effectively close on Tuesday, August 4.
“Completion of the Merger remains subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the remaining customary closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement,” reads the filling.
The EA sale to Saudi Arabia and other equity firms is the largest leveraged buyout in history yet, and is funded by a $36 billion equity investment and $20 billion in new debt financing. Also, upon completion of the deal, the PIF will own over 93% of EA, although Andrew Wilson will continue to remain as the CEO and it will stay headquartered in Redwood City, California.
Regarding the aforementioned debt, it was previously reported that the current EA deal can also result in lots of potential layoffs and even closures of multiple studios which could pose serious threats to many developers and workers in the industry. There have already been multiple rounds of layoffs in the company with employees in Bioware recently expressing concerns of even larger-scale job cuts that can occur once the buyout is officially over.
In other news of the ongoing deal, EA had previously confirmed that despite overwhelming concerns regarding the future direction of the company, they will still be in charge of the creative direction after the sale which should be reassuring to all gamers along with the staff at large cause EA will still get to call the shots, at least when it comes to the games.
