The takeover fever in the games industry has struck in a different way: EA is looking for a potential buyer or a merger partner. The project has so far been unsuccessful, but the game publisher is said to be persistently keeping an eye out.
In recent years, Electronic Arts has held talks with numerous candidates from the media industry. Among them were Disney, Apple and Amazon, reports Dylan Byers on the news site Puck (Paywall). According to internal sources, the company is “persistently” on the lookout. Microsoft's takeover of Activision, which was lucrative for shareholders, reinforced this attitude. In comparison, EA would almost be a bargain: the market value is currently “only” around 36.77 billion US dollars.
Byers' sources disagreed on whether a buyer or more likely a partner is being sought for a merger that will keep EA CEO Andrew Wilson. Talks with NBCUniversal are said to have progressed the furthest. However, a merger of the two companies failed due to differences over details and the value of the partners to be attributed. No other potential partners are currently in sight.
The two sides negotiated for several weeks: term sheets, lawyers, bankers… fell apart within the last month due to disagreements about price and structure. https://t.co/VQvFDJZudM
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) May 20, 2022
After the recent wave of takeovers, EA is not the only publisher considering a sale. Ubisoft no longer categorically excludes such an option. Both companies are currently struggling with challenges that make a sale seem reasonable.
EA has a broader base after acquiring Codemasters, but has in recent years Lost exclusive rights. Star Wars games are now also allowed to be built by other developers and FIFA will be called EA Sports FC in the future. Whether the series will remain profitable in the future is likely, but not certain. In addition to financially lucrative projects such as Apex Legends, there is also Battlefield 2042, which is scratching the reputation of its brand with missing features and bugs.