NEW YORK: Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and Morgan Stanley are among about 20 banks that have joined a US$20bil debt financing backing the buyout of Electronic Arts Inc (EA), giving them a slice of the massive fees tied to the biggest leveraged buyout ever.
The group, which is expected to also include Barclays Plc, was allocated between 1% to 5% of the financing, less than the 10% that some had initially hoped for, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
Participants will take a share of the roughly US$500mil of fees tied to the deal.
The consortium buying the the video-game maker – private equity firm Silver Lake Management, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Affinity Partners – has been working to broaden the underwriting group after JPMorgan Chase & Co initially agreed to put up the full debt commitment for the US$55bil take-private.
With the underwriters in place, the plan is to sell the debt in the leveraged loan and high-yield bond markets in early 2026.
Banks are expected to earn a fee of about 2.25% on the loans in the financing, Bloomberg previously reported.
Fees for bonds will be higher than those of loans. — Bloomberg
