EA Hints At Mass Studio Layoffs To Their Debt Investors

EA Hints At Mass Studio Layoffs To Their Debt Investors

By Jovan 3 2 min read
Electronic Arts
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Day 1 under new ownership is looking as predicted.

EA plans to cut more than half a billion dollars in yearly operational costs under the new ownership. The official Press Release from Andrew Wilson on the topic of EA buyout only included, well, PR talk. Including a public message for the press and a private message for their employees - made public.

What hasn't been stated publicly and was shared only to investors is the upcoming plan to cut $700 million in annual costs. Including $170 million in "organizational efficiencies". Professional gaming reporter for Bloomberg Jason Schreier described it as another way of saying "mass layoffs".

Read Jason's full statement below:

EA officially goes private tonight, meaning:

  • EA will no longer trade on the NASDAQ for the first time in 36 years
  • All stockholders of EA (including many employees) will receive $210/share
  • EA will take on $18 billion (!) in debt, putting it on the hook to pay ~$1.8 billion/year in interest

EA's annual Ebitda is around $1.5 billion, which should be enough to service the interest payments. But the publisher has told debt investors that it will cut $700 million in annual costs including $170 million in "organizational efficiencies," per Bloomberg. In other words: mass layoffs

Source

We know that EA is eager to add AI to their employees day-to-day workflow. But as suspected with the initial reports and analysis of how this buyout is going to go, there will be layoffs. If $170 million of relief in organizational efficiencies include the reported mass layoffs, we're looking at around a thousand jobs lost.

And that's included in the full $700 million annual cost sum, out of which $530 million yet have to be specified and revealed as the time moves on.


We'll keep you updated as the story further develops on the post-buyout future of Electronic Arts. EA News is the main cornerstone for all buyout news, reports and stories.


3 Comments

  1. MsMoBear

    $1.8 billion in annual interest with only $1.5 billion in EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization aka cash-generation from operations with specific cost exclusions) explains why these cuts are so deep. They don’t have sufficient earnings to cover the debt cleanly, so they’ll have to trim a lot of financial fat to service their debt. This might include IP sales as well.

    Wish I could say this is a surprise, but I’m not. Leveraged buyouts typically come with debt for the company being bought out. All so an wealth investment fund and two private equity firms can get a little richer.

  2. XnixnBvg

    Disgusting. Honestly, I expected nothing more from this company. Was the greed worth it? Because now you sold yourself to the devils.

    1. User

      Reply to XnixnBvg

      EA was the devil all along nothing changed.

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