Se pare că EA caută o vânzare sau o fuziune

Electronic Arts caută în mod activ (și persistent) un cumpărător sau o altă companie dispusă să fuzioneze cu aceasta, potrivit Puck. Se pare că compania de jocuri video a purtat discuții with a number of potential buyers or partners, including Disney, Apple and Amazon. It’s unclear which were interested in fully purchasing EA and which were looking to merge, but in case of a merger, Puck a declarat că EA caută o înțelegere care să-i permită lui Andrew Wilson să rămână directorul executiv al companiei combinate.

EA approached Disney in March in an attempt to forge “a more meaningful relationship” that would go beyond licensing deals, according to the source. However, Disney decided not to push forward, perhaps because it’s currently focused on its nascent streaming service. The publication said the idea of a merger between EA and ESPN, which Disney partly owns, is being floated around in the industry.

Among all the potential partners, however, it was perhaps Comcast who got the closest to a deal. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts reportedly approached Wilson with an offer to merge NBCUniversal with EA. Under the deal, Roberts would take majority control of the merged company, but Wilson would remain chief executive. The people involved didn’t agree over the price of the sale and the structure of the combined entity, though, and the agreement fell through within the last month.

EA rămâne o companie proprie pentru moment, dar Puck said it has become more emboldened in its quest to find a sale or a merger since Microsoft announced that it’s snapping up Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, so that might not be be the case for long. It’s worth noting that Sony also dezvăluit that it’s buying Destin studioul Bungie pentru 3.6 miliarde de dolari la scurt timp după ce Microsoft a anunțat achiziția.

Purtătorul de cuvânt al EA, John Reseburg, a declarat Puck că compania nu va comenta „despre zvonuri și speculații legate de [fuziuni și achiziții]”. Reseburg a adăugat: „Suntem mândri să operăm dintr-o poziție de forță și creștere, cu un portofoliu de jocuri uimitoare, construite în jurul IP puternic, realizate de echipe incredibil de talentate și o rețea de peste jumătate de miliard de jucători. Vedem un viitor foarte luminos în viitor.”