Report: EA Looking for Sale?

By Brian P Rubin | 16 August 2012 | 7 Comments

A report in the New York Post today claims that Electronic Arts has been approached by private equity firms KKR and Providence Equity Partners and have entered into discussions about a potential sale. The article quotes one source, who said, “It’s early days.”

The article also notes that EA said it doesn’t make comments “on rumor and speculation,” while KKR didn’t comment and Providence didn’t return the newspaper’s calls. Providence owns a stake in Bethesda (and, consequently, its parent Zenimax). Providence had purchased a total of $450 million in convertible preferred stock in Zenimax between 2007 and 2010. Adding EA to their portfolio would probably be a pretty nice feather in their cap.

The article notes that, while their stock is trading at about $13 right now, a source says EA would look for an investment at a higher rate:

“They’ve made it known they’d do a deal at $20 a share,” the source is quoted as saying.

Interesting stuff, isn’t it? Stay tuned for more on this as it develops.

Via New York Post

7 Comments

Posted by adam on 16 August 12 at 9:05am

seems fishy to me that one company is buying so much stock in such a risky market like video games
- Posted by Aeph on 16 August 12 at 5:51pm
  
  Risky market?
Posted by Screamo Luvr on 16 August 12 at 12:36pm

They gunna turn EA into a Flight Sim publisher I reckon.
Kappa
Posted by ISiupick on 16 August 12 at 12:53pm

So if EA is sold, it will cease to exist ? What about BF4 and MoH and other games ? I’m confuzzled
- Posted by harveydanger on 16 August 12 at 1:37pm
  
  No, EA will stay exactly the same.
  
  It’s a similar situation to how Activision-Blizzard is owned by Vivendi Universal. There’s little creative control over anything, the company is basically only bought to make the parent company money.
Posted by theMisterRaven on 17 August 12 at 10:49am

The big question is, will it stop sucking?
- Posted by David D. Davidson on 17 August 12 at 9:14pm
  
  It couldn’t get any worse… Could it?