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| Electronic Arts want to sell or merge |
Electronic Arts, publisher of Battlefield, FIFA, and The Sims games, is actively seeking buyers or a merger with other companies that have shown interest in the growing game industry in recent years.
The video game company has been in talks with several potential buyers or partners, including Disney, Apple and Amazon.
It is not clear which of them are interested in buying the entire EA and which one is interested in merging. But in the event of a merger, the gaming company is seeking a deal that would keep Andrew Wilson as CEO of the combined company.
In February, Wilson said the company was focusing on acquisitions rather than acquisitions. As proof of that, the company spent $5 billion buying studios last year to expand its reach.
But it now appears that the company is actively looking for other ways to grow. Wilson reached out to Disney in March about building a more meaningful relationship beyond the licensing deal.
However, Disney decided not to go ahead as it is currently focused on the fledgling streaming service. But the idea of EA merging with ESPN, which is partly owned by Disney, is already on the table.
This news comes as EA has lost or dropped some of its biggest licensing deals to date. The company recently revealed three new Star Wars games that are currently in the pipeline.
However, the exclusive Star Wars licensing deal with Disney will not renew when it expires in 2023.
EA also announced that it is ending a similar 10-year exclusive deal with FIFA, to rebrand the popular football series EA Sports FC from 2023.
Electronic Arts is cutting 200 jobs
Of all the potential partners, Comcast is the closest to sealing the deal. Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, approached Wilson with a proposal to merge NBCUniversal with Electronic Arts.
Roberts wants to split the EA entertainment conglomerate into a separate entity, with Wilson in charge of the new big deal.
Under the terms of the agreement, Roberts is expected to have a controlling stake in the combined company while Wilson will remain CEO.
But the sale price and the structure of the joint venture were not agreed upon, and the agreement expired last month.
Acquisitions by video game studios have continued over the past year. The pace accelerated in January after Take-Two announced its $12.7 billion acquisition of Zynga.
Electronic Arts remains a private company today. But since Microsoft announced it was acquiring Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, it has been bolder in pursuing a sale or merger.
Shortly after Microsoft announced the acquisition, Sony also announced that it had acquired Bungie Studio for $3.6 billion.
Some analysts see the price as significantly overstated and a sign of massive consolidation among the biggest players in the gaming industry.
While there is no merger or acquisition deal yet, it doesn't look like Battleground Makers and FIFA will compromise anytime soon.
An EA spokesperson said, "The company does not comment on merger and acquisition rumors and speculation. We are proud to operate from a position of strength and growth with an incredible portfolio of intellectual property-based games built by a talented team, and a network of over 5 billion players. We see a very promising future." .