Saudi Arabia’s PIF and Silver Lake Are Reportedly in Takeover Talks With Unity, Months After Buying EA

Electronic Arts was not the end of the road. According to a new Reuters report, Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the same consortium that took EA private in a record $55 billion deal, have approached Unity Software with early acquisition talks, according to two people familiar with the confidential discussions.

A Familiar Group of Investors

Silver Lake is no stranger to Unity. The firm has held roughly an 8 percent stake in the game engine maker since investing around $400 million back in 2017, and Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban currently sits on Unity’s board.

“A dual role that would typically lead him to recuse himself.”

Reuters, on Durban’s position on Unity’s board during a potential sale

That overlap means Durban would likely have to step back from Unity’s side of any sale negotiations, even as his own firm sits on the other side of the table.

A Valuation Already in Flux

Reuters reports that the investor group had discussed a valuation of around $25 billion before Unity’s latest earnings report came in stronger than expected, lifting the company’s market capitalization to roughly $21.5 billion on its own. Unity has reportedly engaged an investment bank to evaluate its options following the approach, and shares jumped as much as 15 percent in regular trading once the report broke, with further gains after hours.

Endless Legend 2 is one of the many recent titles built on Unity, the engine now reportedly drawing interest from the same investors who bought EA.

What EA’s Fate Might Mean for Unity

Part of what makes this report sting is the precedent. Gamersuniverse previously covered EA’s own $55 billion buyout by the same PIF and Silver Lake led group, a deal that was quickly followed by mass layoffs, roughly $18 billion in new debt loaded onto the company, and eventually the shutdown of BioWare. Unity has already weathered its own crisis of trust with developers following the 2023 Runtime Fee backlash, and has spent the time since rebuilding with features like Unreal interoperability and its AI powered Vector advertising platform, which helped the company post its first GAAP quarterly profit since going public in 2020.

For now, Reuters stresses that the discussions remain preliminary, with no certainty a deal materializes and any potential terms still subject to change. Neither Unity nor the PIF and Silver Lake group has commented publicly on the report.

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