NEW YORK: Wall Street banks led by JPMorgan Chase & Co have already attracted enough demand for the nearly US$15bil of debt it is selling to back the leveraged buyout of video game maker Electronic Arts Inc (EA), the largest of its kind.
Investors have placed about US$19bil of orders for debt under the package, including loans and bonds in US dollars and euros, according to people familiar with the matter.
The lender group on Monday launched a US$5.75bil cross-border leveraged loan sale tied to the deal, and plans to market another US$9bil of bonds starting March 23, the people said, asking not to be identified because discussions are private.
The early demand is a crucial win for JPMorgan, which stunned Wall Street last year by committing a record US$20bil to bankroll the buyout.
The bank has been marketing the deal for weeks, including at its leveraged-finance mega-conference last month, even as global financial markets are on edge over fears of artificial intelligence disruption and the conflict in the Middle East.
Banks are selling a US$4bil US dollar term loan B at a discounted price of around 98.50 US cents on the dollar and an interest rate of 3.5 to 3.75 percentage points over a key benchmark.
It’s also pitching a €1.53bil loan, equivalent to about US$1.75bil, at similar pricing terms.
The bond portion of the deal will include US$6.5bil of US dollar and euro-denominated secured notes and US$2.5bil of dollar-denominated unsecured bonds, according to the people.
The EA deal financing also comprises a US$3.25bil term loan A, which is typically held by banks.
EA is being acquired by a consortium led by private equity firm Silver Lake Management, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Affinity Partners, which is managed by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The deal values the video game company at about US$55bil.
The deal is the largest-ever leveraged buyout, eclipsing the roughly US$45bil TXU deal in 2007.
It also ranks among the biggest merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions of 2025 and highlights Wall Street’s willingness to back blockbuster deals despite economic concerns and stretched valuations.
JPMorgan, which declined to comment, is anchoring US$20bil of debt, one of the biggest buyout commitments on record, alongside about 20 lenders, including Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and Morgan Stanley.
In addition to the EA debt deal, JPMorgan on Monday launched a US$1bil loan offering tied to the leveraged buyout of Select Medical Holdings Corp by an investor consortium and a US$700mil term loan supporting the takeover of Omaha-based mining equipment maker Molycop.
It’s also part of a group of banks expected to kick off the sale of roughly US$7.15bil of debt this week to help finance Clayton Dubilier & Rice’s buyout of packaging company Sealed Air Corp.
This year is expected to be a busy one for M&A-related loans, with the highlight so far being a US$7.25bil transaction for Hologic Inc’s buyout that saw strong demand and was the biggest leveraged loan since 2021. — Bloomberg
