Seeking to fill gaps in its product lineup, the video game publisher Electronic Arts said Thursday that it would acquire two software studios from Elevation Partners in a deal worth $860 million, the largest in its history.
The studios, BioWare Corporation and Pandemic Studios, are known for their action, adventure and role-playing games. Elevation owns their parent, VG Holding.
Electronic Arts, the world’s No. 1 video game publisher, is known for blockbusters like the Sims and Madden NFL, but it has at times had less than 10 percent of the lucrative market for role-playing, action and adventure games.
Under the terms of the deal, Electronic Arts will pay VG stockholders up to $620 million in cash and issue as much as $155 million in equity to some of the company’s employees. The shares will be subject to certain time- and performance-restricted vesting criteria.
E.A., which is based in Redwood City, will also assume about $50 million in outstanding VG stock options and has agreed to lend VG up to $35 million until the deal closes.
Company officials declined to elaborate on the financial terms.
Before this deal, E.A.’s largest acquisition was its $680 million purchase of the mobile game publisher Jamdat Mobile in 2006.
BioWare and Pandemic have a total of 10 games under development and together employ about 800 people in Los Angeles and Austin, Tex., as well as in Canada and Australia.
Microsoft is planning to publish BioWare’s Mass Effect game next month, and the studio is in the early stages of developing a multiplayer online game, E.A. said. Pandemic is planning to release Mercenaries 2: World in Flames and Saboteur.
Source: NY Times