It’s now official: Electronic Arts has become a private company following the completion of its $55 billion buyout. The company is no longer listed on the NASDAQ, and all shareholders will receive $210 per share.
In addition, the publisher will take on approximately $18 billion in debt and will have to pay roughly $1.8 billion in interest per year. However, the EBITDA (which is the metric that measures a company’s pure operating performance) will reach $1.5 billion per year, which could have almost entirely covered the annual interest expenses.
However, Electronic Arts’ management chose a different path, announcing annual cost cuts of $700 million. Bloomberg notes that this amount includes $170 million earmarked for “organizational efficiency gains”. Simply put, lots of people are going to lose their jobs.
