A heavyweight consortium backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth muscle has moved to sweep up $1.5 billion worth of debt issued by U.S. gaming giant Electronic Arts, tightening its grip ahead of a historic takeover.
The buying vehicle, dubbed Oak-Eagle, brings together Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, global tech investor Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. Their tender offer targets two tranches of EA’s senior unsecured notes, together totaling $1.5 billion.
The pricing is engineered with precision: flat to the yield of corresponding on-the-run U.S. Treasuries — effectively T+0 — and sweetened by a five-point early tender premium. In bond-market shorthand, that signals urgency without theatrics.
The first slice covers $750 million of 1.85% notes maturing in February 2031, benchmarked at 3.75% over U.S. Treasuries due January 31, 2031. The second mirrors that size — $750 million — but stretches far longer, carrying a 2.95% coupon and maturing in February 2051, referenced against 4.625% U.S. Treasuries due November 15, 2055.
There’s more at play than just a buyback. Oak-Eagle is also seeking bondholder approval to strip restrictive covenants from any notes that don’t participate in the offer — a move that would loosen the contractual guardrails surrounding the remaining debt.
The settlement clock is ticking toward March 16. The offer itself hinges on the completion of the consortium’s blockbuster acquisition of EA, expected to close sometime between early April and the end of June.
That acquisition — a staggering $55 billion public-to-private deal — reset the record books when it was unveiled. Structured with roughly $36 billion in cash, existing equity stakes held by the Saudi fund, and about $20 billion in debt financing arranged by JPMorgan Chase, it stands as the largest leveraged buyout ever attempted in the gaming industry.
With the tender now live, the message from Riyadh and its partners is unmistakable: the takeover is not just about buying a company. It’s about reshaping its balance sheet before the ink dries.
