Video game maker Electronic Arts this morning agreed to taken private in what would be the largest leveraged buyout ever.

• The buyers are Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake Partners, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners.

Why it matters: This might be just as much about geopolitics as it is about cashflow from the next iteration of Madden NFL.

• Saudi Arabia has pushed hard into gaming, including the $4.9 billion Scopely takeover and an existing 9.9% stake in EA that it will roll over into the buyout.
• Part of this is economic diversification for the oil-reliant Kingdom, but part of it also is about global influence. Many of the world's young people speak gaming as their second language, and these deals give Saudi more direct access.

By the numbers: The total deal value is $55 billion, or $210 per share in cash.

• That represents a 25% premium to where EA shares closed last Thursday before WSJ scooped the deal, and more than two times where they traded in mid-January.
• The three equity sponsors will contribute $36 billion, including the PIF rollover, while JPMorgan committed $20 billion of debt financing. EA has just $2.2 billion of debt currently on its books.

The intrigue: The equity sponsors will fund the deal "entirely from capital under their respective control."

• Silver Lake is investing out of a $20.5 billion fund closed in early 2024, while Affinity is investing out of a $3 billion fund raised even earlier (and partially funded by PIF).
• Or, put another way, it would seem that PIF must be writing the largest check (and is listed first in the press release).

Catch up quick: The current record-holder for largest leveraged buyout is TXU at $45 billion, which included $13 billion of assumed debt. The EA deal is obviously larger, although TXU maintains its crown if dollars get adjusted for inflation.

• Silver Lake has some historical ties to EA, via former EA CEO John Riccitiello. He left the gaming giant to launch a new private equity firm with two former Silver Lake partners, and later led another gaming company that took a Silver Lake investment.
• A source adds that Silver Lake "has watched and admired [EA] for a long time."
• The largest gaming deal ever came two years ago, when Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.

The big picture: The gaming industry is undergoing seismic shifts, and EA has watched its revenue flatten as digital upstarts like Roblox have taken market share.

• Nonetheless, it still has a ton of venerable titles in a hits-driven business, including The Sims and Battlefield.
• "EA Sports FC is among the most popular games worldwide," says Stephen Totillo, my former Axios colleague and author of Game File. "In the U.S., the Madden and College football games sit near the top of the charts."

The bottom line: Game on!

KKR agreed to buy a 50% stake in the North American solar assets of French oil giant TotalEnergies (Paris: TTE) at a $1.25 billion portfolio value.

Why it's the BFD: It's a reminder that utility-scale solar remains cheap and fast to deploy, despite Trump administration antipathy toward renewables, at a time when data centers are surging energy demand.

Elsewhere: TotalEnergies today also agreed to buy a 49% stake in natural gas assets in Oklahoma's Andarko Basin from Continental Resources.

The bottom line: "As other oil majors reduce renewables spending, Total has bucked the trend by continuing to build wind and solar projects, then selling minority stakes to raise cash, which it invests in natural gas assets to grow its portfolio as global demand rises." — America Hernandez, Reuters

• Modal Labs, a New York-based serverless cloud platform, raised $87m at $1.1b valuation, per Axios Pro. Lux Capital led, joined by Amplify Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Dimension Capital, and Definition. axios.link/4mGjF5t

• Neptune Robotics, a Singaporean maker of underwater robots for cleaning ship hulls, raised $52m led by Granite Asia. axios.link/4mAUNMl

• Alvys, a Solana Beach, Calif.-based management system for freight operators, raised $40m in Series B funding. RTP Global led, joined by Alpha Square Group and insiders Titanium Ventures, Picus Capital, and Bonfire Ventures. alvys.com

• Paid, a provider of billing solutions for agent-makers, raised $21.6m in seed funding. Lightspeed led, joined by Fuse and EQT Ventures. axios.link/487MhB6

• GoodFit, a London-based go-to-market startup, raised $13m in Series A funding. Notion Capital led, joined by Salica Investments, Inovia Capital, Robin Capital, Common Magic, and Andrena Ventures. axios.link/4gLE4Vn

• Gain, an Israeli developer of procurement agents, raised $12m in seed funding led by BlueRed Partners and Bazan Group. getgain.com

• Anything, a no-code AI app development startup raised $11m in Series A funding. Footwork led, joined by M13. axios.link/4gJxGxM

• Maximor, a New York-based finance automation platform, raised $9m in seed funding. Foundation Capital led, joined by Gaia Ventures and Boldcap. axios.link/4nTAAST

🌎 Area 2 Farms, a developer of soil-based urban farms, raised $9m. Slow Ventures and Seven Seven Six led, joined by Animo Ventures. axios.link/3VFq1qE

• Black Forest Labs, a German AI image generation startup, is in talks to raise $200m-$300m at a $4b valuation, per the FT. axios.link/4mFqnbR

⚡ Aurelius agreed to acquire the EMEA metering business of Landis+Gyr (Swiss: LAND) for $215m. axios.link/4mYYZpD

🚑 Clinigen, a Triton Partners portfolio company, acquired Parsippany, N.J.-based biotech consultancy SSI Strategy from Amulet Capital Partners. ssistrategy.com

🚑 GTCR agreed to acquire Dentalcorp (TSX: DNTL), a Canadian dental practice network, for C$2.2b. axios.link/470xtDa

• KKR invested in Infobric, a Swedish construction software group backed by Stirling Square. axios.link/42CZyOz

• Northern Horizon acquired ACG Systems, an Annapolis, Md.-based wireless communications systems integrator and technical services provider. axios.link/46KhdVu

🚑 Sheridan Capital Partners invested in Currier Plastics, an Auburn, N.Y.-based maker of custom precision plastic components for health care and life sciences. currierplastics.com

• Signal Rock Capital invested in Thermae Retreat, a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based spa operator. thermaeretreat.com

Three companies plan to price U.S. IPOs this week: Fermi, Neptune Insurance, and Commercial Bancgroup.

• Alliance Laundry Systems, a Ripon, Wis.-based laundry equipment manufacturer owned by BDT & MSD Partners, set IPO terms to 34.1m shares at $19-$22. It would have a $4.2b fully diluted market cap, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (ALH). Alliance reports $48m of net income on $837m of revenue for the first six months of 2025. axios.link/4pRkX0q

• Beta Technologies, a South Burlington, Vt.-based maker of electric aircraft, filed for a $100m IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (BETA) and recently raised $300m from GE Aerospace. Other backers include TPG Rise. axios.link/4mBhjER

• Ethos Technologies, an SF-based life insurance marketplace, filed for a $100m IPO. It reports $18.5m in net income on $118.5m in revenue for the first half of 2025, and plans to list on the Nasdaq (LIFE). Ethos raised over $400m from firms like Sequoia Capital, Accel, GV, and SoftBank. axios.link/3KnhyGd

🚑 Ottobock, a German prosthetics maker, is seeking to raise up to €702m in its Frankfurt IPO. axios.link/46sPM3N

• Tata Capital, an Indian financial services group, is seeking to raise up to $1.7b in what would be India's largest IPO so far this year. axios.link/4nS6O0O

• Verisure, a Swiss fire and security alarm maker owned by Hellman & Friedman, is seeking a market cap of up to €13.9b in its Stockholm IPO. axios.link/3IAJKFa

🚑 GHO Capital sold VISUfarma, a Dutch ophthalmology drugmaker, to India's Lupin. axios.link/4nUnDIG

• MRI Software, a Solon, Ohio-based provider of real estate investment management software, hired Goldman Sachs to explore a sale or IPO, per Reuters. It could fetch up to $10b (including debt), while backers are TA Associates, Harvest Partners, and GI Partners. axios.link/3KJrkT3

🚑 Genmab (Nasdaq: GMAB) agreed to acquire Dutch cancer drugmaker Merus (Nasdaq: MRUS) for around $8b in cash, or $97 per share. axios.link/471b9Ju

⚡ Hadron Energy, a Redwood City, Calif.-based developer of micro modular reactors, agreed to go public at an implied $1.2b valuation via GigCapital7 (Nasdaq: GIG), a SPAC led by Avi Katz. axios.link/4pKKxnx

• Kloekner, a listed German metals company, agreed to sell eight U.S. distribution facilities to Russel Metals (TSE: RUS) for around $119m. axios.link/4npQZyG

⚡ Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) is in talks to sell its OxyChem petrochemicals unit for at least $10b, per the FT. axios.link/4mJQBKr

⚡ Ovo Energy, a VC-based U.K. energy supplier, is weighing the sale of a stake in software spinout Kaluza at a $1b+ valuation, per Sky News. axios.link/3Kmt4BP

• Avenue Capital Group raised $1b for its debut sports fund. axios.link/4nSsf1M

• Boost VC, a deep-tech firm led by Adam Draper, raised $87m for its fourth fund. axios.link/4gKFgbH

• Evantic Capital, a VC firm formed by Matt Miller (ex-Sequoia Capital), raised $400m for its debut fund. axios.link/46sSzKj

• Kedaara Capital, an Indian PE firm, raised $300m for its first continuation fund, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4mIVrrp

• Radian Capital, a New York-based growth equity firm, raised $600m for its fourth fund. radiancapital.com

• Marcus Ryu, former CEO of Guidewire Software, joined Battery Ventures as a general partner. axios.link/48FzUfF