Electronic Arts will reportedly be acquired for $50B | TechCrunch

The video game company Electronic Arts is nearing a $50 billion sale to a group of investors including Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

EA is best known for its annual sports titles in franchises like Madden NFL, FIFA, and NBA Live, as well as video game series like The Sims, Battlefield, Need for Speed, and Star Wars.

According to the Journal’s report, this deal could be the largest leveraged buyout in history, meaning that the deal is mostly funded with debt.

After the news broke that EA could be going private, stocks jumped 15% on Friday afternoon.