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EA reportedly tried to sell itself to Apple

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EA has reportedly been seeking out a merger and Apple was a potential suitor, a report about Comcast CEO Brian Roberts' attempt to merge NBC with the game publisher reveals.

Apple has a long history of making acquisitions, partly to bolster its employee and knowledge base, partly to quickly shift into new markets. In a Friday report, it is claimed that there were at least discussions of a potential purchase of Electronic Arts.

In a piece discussing how Comcast CEO Brian Roberts attempted to court EA CEO Andrew Wilson for a potential merger of EA and NBCUniversal, sources say other talks also took place.

Sources of Puck claim Wilson and EA have talked to "a number of potential suitors" for a sale over the last few years. The suitors included Apple, as well as Disney and Amazon.

It is said that EA has been keen to pursue a sale, and with the numerous acquisitions at the start of 2022, the game publisher became "more emboldened" to achieve its goal. Those tie-ups include Sony's $3.6 billion acquisition of "Destiny" game studio Bungie, Take-Two Interactive's $12.7 billion purchase of Zynga, and Microsoft's $68.7 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard.

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As part of the negotiations, sources say that EA is keen to be part of a merger that "would allow Wilson to remain as chief executive of the combined company."

Apple, Amazon, and Disney all declined to comment on the story.

While Apple has gradually moved into gaming, such as by its Apple Arcade subscription, it seems unlikely that it would go for such an acquisition. Apple doesn't tend to make acquisitions at such huge scales, with the most notable exception being the $3 billion Beats Music and Beats Electronics purchase in 2014.



46 Comments

melgross 21 Years · 33633 comments

If true, Apple should have bought them.

4 Likes · 0 Dislikes
mpantone 19 Years · 2278 comments

If true, EA was asking way too much which would explain why they are still an independent company despite courting multiple suitors.

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes
iSRS 9 Years · 52 comments

that "would allow Wilson to remain as chief executive of the combined company."


Umm…. Really? Think Amazon, Apple or Disney would even consider such a thing? Dude sounds like he’s on an ego trip


7 Likes · 0 Dislikes
genovelle 17 Years · 1481 comments

iSRS said:
that "would allow Wilson to remain as chief executive of the combined company."


Umm…. Really? Think Amazon, Apple or Disney would even consider such a thing? Dude sounds like he’s on an ego trip

He sounds nuts! Why on earth would a far more successful company merge with the less successful company and put the guy who ran the company being consumed in charge  

Apple’s situation with Steve Jobs was to regain their founder so he could right the ship 


2 Likes · 0 Dislikes
22july2013 12 Years · 3749 comments

The main reason Apple would have rejected EA is that less than 20% of EA's game catalog runs on Macs or iOS. Why would Apple want games that are almost entirely made for Windows, Xbox, Nintendo, Playstation and Android?

Market cap of EA is $36B. So they were probably asking $50B.

6 Likes · 0 Dislikes