Wachtell, Kirkland Lead Record $55 Billion Electronic Arts Buyout (1)

Wachtell, Kirkland, Gibson Dunn, Latham, Simpson Thacher and Sidley all had a hand in facilitating the largest leveraged buyout transaction on record.

Several Big Law firms guided Electronic Arts Inc.'s agreement to sell itself to a group of investors including a firm managed by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The transaction values the video game company at about $55 billion.

The consortium of investors includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake Management and Kushner’s Affinity Partners. The purchase is the latest effort by Saudi Arabia to branch out into entertainment. JPMorgan Chase & Co. will provide $20 billion of debt, which is the largest ever debt commitment for a buyout.

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as EA’s legal adviser with a team of lawyers including co-chairman of the firm’s Executive Committee Edward D. Herlihy, co-chair of the mergers and acquisitions practice David K. Lam, and corporate partner Eric M. Feinstein.

Kirkland & Ellis served as lead legal counsel for Saudi’s PIF, with specialized counsel from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Kirkland’s team included corporate lawyers Maggie Flores, Sarkis Jebejian, Jonathan Davis, Lee Blum, Aseda Ghartey-Tagoe, Kamran Bajwa, who is the founder of Kirkland’s Riyadh office and leads the firm’s Middle East practice, and Noor Al-Fawzan. The firm began representing PIF and its subsidiaries since opening an office in Riyadh in 2023.

Latham & Watkins and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett guided Silver Lake.

Latham’s corporate deal team steering Silver Lake was led by partners Michael Anastasio, Ian Nussbaum, Charles Ruck, Ghaith Mahmood and Rick Offsay. Latham guided global deals worth about $269 billion in the first half of the year and was the top ranked M&A Big Law firm, according to Bloomberg Law’s league tables.

Sidley Austin steered Affinity Partners. Its deal team was led Perry Shwachman, global co-leader of Sidley’s M&A and private equity group and member of the firm’s management and executive committees; corporate partner Jonathan Blackburn and litigation partner William Levi.

Kirkland and Latham also guided the investor consortium overall, according to the firms.