Mergers are all the rage right now. Not too long after Square-Enix sold off its entire Western division, it seems that EA also almost had a massive deal working in the background. In a new piece by Puck News, there was a time of EA and NBC Universal fusing before the deal fell apart in April. It seems the plan was by Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts to create new IPs and brands and the Microsoft-Activision deal seemingly inspired Electronic Arts’ CEO, Andrew Wilson, to merge the company with NBCUniversal.
Yet, they could not come to an agreement on the monetary aspect, and, as a result, the deal fell off. Yet, it seems EA is quite focused on getting sold with a new deal being potentially discussed with Disney. It seems they want “a more meaningful relationship than licensing deals” as stated by Puck News’ Dylan Byers. It seems that the main focus is also on unifying their major sports brands ESPN and EA Sports.
The deal has not been made public as of now, and there’s no real specifics on how far the project has come. As of now, it seems they may only be considering Disney as a new buyer but an offer or deal isn’t on the table yet. Still, it would continue to shake up the gaming industry as mergers have become quite a bit more common as of late. Plus, Disney may be coy about adding more to their already extensive list. With the purchase of 20th Century Fox not too long ago, they may also not want to be in the hot seat again in expanding their enterprise with such a high investment.
Source: Puck via Game Informer
