Amazon is reportedly planning to acquire Electronic Arts
Amazon is reportedly planning to acquire Electronic Arts.
According to USA Today sources, Amazon is planning to announce on Friday that it has tabled a formal offer to purchase the FIFA, Madden and Apex Legends publisher.
It was recently claimed that EA has been actively pursuing a sale or merger for some time.
In May, a Puck report claimed EA had recently held talks with Disney, Apple, Amazon and Comcast-NBCUniversal over a potential sale.
The report claimed sources had indicated that the FIFA and Battlefield maker “has been persistent” in pursuing a sale and has “only grown more emboldened in the wake of the Microsoft–Activision deal”.
“Others say that EA is primarily interested in a merger arrangement that would allow [CEO Andrew] Wilson to remain as chief executive of the combined company,” it added.
M&A activity in the games industry hit a record $85 billion in 2021 and is expected to comfortably surpass that total this year.
According to investment banking firm Drake Star Partners, the first half of the year saw $107 billion in total deal value for 651 announced and/or closed deals.
These include Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard, Take-Two and Zynga’s $12.7 billion merger, and Sony’s $3.6 billion acquisition of Destiny maker Bungie.
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