This is confirmation, not a changed deal. The PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity acquisition closed on the previously announced $210-per-share cash terms, after shareholder approval in December 2025. That removes the remaining closing uncertainty, but introduces no higher consideration, revised terms, or new operating disclosure versus what merger-arbitrage investors already expected. (Introductory Note; Item 2.01; Exhibit 99.1)
| Item | Filing detail | Read versus standing expectation |
|---|---|---|
| Cash paid to public holders | $210 per share | Matches the previously agreed merger consideration. (Item 2.01) |
| Total merger consideration | Approximately $55 billion | Confirms the originally announced scale; not a new valuation datapoint. (Item 5.01) |
| New first-lien loans | $6.125B + €1.725B term loan B; $3.250B term loan A; $500M revolver | The buyout is funded with a substantial secured debt package, as expected for the transaction structure. (Item 1.01 — New Credit Agreement) |
| New notes | $2.875B at 7.250%; €1.080B at 6.250%; $2.500B at 8.750% | High-cost, long-dated acquisition financing was already issued in April; closing activates EA's guarantees of it. (Item 1.01 — New Notes) |
| Legacy notes still outstanding | $681.170M due 2031; $742.078M due 2051 | Untendered notes remain, but assets were placed in a defeasance trust to cover their payments. (Item 7.01 — Existing Notes) |
The public-equity story is over. Each outstanding common share was cancelled for cash, trading halted after the August 4 close, and delisting was requested before the August 5 opening. EA is now a wholly owned subsidiary, so future business execution no longer accrues to publicly traded EA shares. (Item 2.01; Item 3.01; Item 5.01)
The meaningful structural change is leverage, not operating news. EA and other guarantors now back secured borrowings with substantially all of their assets, while also guaranteeing $2.5 billion of unsecured notes. The filing gives no updated outlook, earnings release, cost-savings target, or quantified AI investment plan—only broad buyer statements about innovation—so it does not alter the operating case that existed before closing. (Item 1.01 — New Credit Agreement and New Notes; Exhibit 99.1)
Legacy debt cleanup is orderly rather than incremental. EA terminated an undrawn prior revolver, while the remaining old notes were defeased after limited tender participation. That simplifies the capital structure around the new ownership, but the tender offers and new-note issuance were already public before this closing filing. (Item 1.02; Item 7.01 — Existing Notes)
Read the original 8-K on SEC EDGAR ↗