October 30, 2025 • 21 mins
Breaking news! Electronic Arts (EA) – the studio behind FIFA, Madden, and Battlefield – is being acquired in the largest-ever private equity buyout ($55B! Katie stuns at the size of the deal). In this episode, we break down:
✅ How Leverage Buyouts (LBOs) work (Rory’s $500k house analogy!) ☑️ The players: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund + Jared Kushner’s PE firm + Silver Lake
✅ EA’s $5B revenue surge, subscription model, and eSports addiction
✅ The real question: Do investors see a $55B gaming empire or a ticking time bomb?
📜 Regulatory delays (deal closes in 2027!) 🔍 Future predictions: 7-10 year hold + IPO exit
⚠️ Red flags: Can debt kill creativity?
- EA’s hook: Recurring revenue + eSports + global hits keep it debt-friendly 🚀
- Saudi’s strategy: Diversify from oil + dominate global sports**:SG 🏆**
- PE reality: "They’ll get creative fees" – but can they stomach $1.3B/year debt?
- Gamer sentiment: Questionable. “They’re brutal public!”
👉 Subscribe for more private equity deep dives!
👉 Drop your thoughts in the comments: Will gaming be the next trillion-dollar industry?
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Three insiders. One mic. All things private equity — explained. Hi 👋 We’re Ed, Rory, and Emily — a CEO, a CFO, and a Chief of Staff — here to demystify the world of private equity. Between us, we’ve sat in the founder’s chair, run PE‑backed companies, and worked on the deal side, so we know the wins, the pitfalls, and the jargon (and we’ll explain it).
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2 (00:00):
Alright.
So we're doing a quick hit of anarticle we came across that goes
back to one of our previousepisodes.
So here's the title of thisarticle, video Gamer Electronic
Arts to be bought in largestever Private Equity buyout.
Valued at 55 billion with a B
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (00:19):
With a
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (00:20):
is like that sounds like a lot to
me.
Is this a lot of money we'retalking about in PE Land.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (00:25):
it's a big one.
It's a big one you got, but yougot some big hitters at the
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (00:28):
Okay, break someone.
Break this down.
Gimme like the little primeroverview of what, what this is.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (00:36):
Well, EEA Sports, I think a lot of
people know they're, um, they'rea gaming company and, you know,
they've, they've continued toevolve their business over the
years into more sort of liveexperience.
Uh.
Uh, what is it, you know, uh,game sports or electronic
sports, that's like becoming areally big industry.
And, their, their stock hadactually been doing pretty well
over the last year.
(00:56):
I think it's, uh, you know, p500 by like, you know, 15% or
something significant like that.
So it's, it is a business thathas been doing well.
Um, but also ripe for, you know,some, um, private company
takeover.
So they, they decided to sell toa consortium of private equity
buyers.
Um, most significantly is kindof been in the news.
(01:19):
the public investment fund ofSaudi Arabia is a, is an
investor, and they've been aninvestor up to this point.
They've been almost a 10%stakeholder, but they've.
Increase their position.
Um, and Silver Lake Partners.
Another really big PE groupthat, uh, is big in tech and
gaming as well.
And not last but not least, uh,Jared Kushner's private equity
fund.
(01:40):
son-in-law of, uh, potus, uh,they're in the, in the mix too,
probably some others as
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_150 (01:45):
I just like as a reminder for
people leverage buyout.
'cause someone just like brieflysummarize.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (01:51):
Ed, you take that one.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (01:52):
Yeah, so a leverage buyout essentially
says it's when you buy a house,you're doing a leverage buyout.
Essentially you're saying, okay,my house is gonna cost half a
million dollars.
I'm gonna put.
$250,000 down and borrow250,000.
That's all that's leverage.
That's the debt.
And so a leverage buyout likethis would be a situation where
they go, the purchase pricemight be 55 billion and they're
(02:15):
gonna put 11 billion down incash and borrow the remaining$44
billion in a series of bonds orprivate placements so that that
way they can pay that off overtime with the cash flow from the
business.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (02:28):
Okay.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (02:29):
well in this case they, they went a
little bit heavier on theleverage.
They went 36 billion in equity,uh, most of which funded at
close and, uh, 19 billion indebt provided by JP Morgan
Chase.
So you think about that as likeyour, your leveraging,
leveraging, you know, 34% of thepurchase price is, is, uh,
funded by
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (02:48):
Just for reference, like what's
average.
What's an average percentage?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (02:54):
Hmm.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (02:56):
What I, what I've seen on the tech
enabled services side hasgenerally been closer to what
Rory just said, about a third to40% might be debt, and the rest
of it's gonna be equity.
Because you still need, and thisis I think, gonna be one of the
challenges with this investment,not only is it large, but you
still need cash flow to reinvestin product because technology
goes stale very quickly.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (03:16):
Yeah, that's right.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (03:17):
so you're gonna continuously need
cash flow that.
You know, with a RJR Nabisco,let's say, when they went
private on a leverage buyoutback 40 years ago, they were
just cashflow rich and they,they use
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (03:29):
Hmm.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (03:29):
pay the debt service.
Something like ea they're gonnahave to reinvest in new, in new
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (03:33):
Why did they do this?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2 (03:37):
Variety of different reasons.
I think, um, you know, some ofthe things I've read is, has
been around, know, when you takeyourself out of the public
sphere.
less managing quarter toquarter, you're able to, you
know, have a bit longer termvision, you know, presumably
more patient capital if youwill.
Um, and, you know, their, theirmodel is changing.
(03:58):
And so there, you know, there's,there is a lot more product
development to be had and, andsome of that has longer time
horizons on it.
And so, you know, the other, theother element too is.
Um, you know, from a buyerstandpoint, you know, they paid
a 25% premium on the stockprice, uh, per share.
But, uh, if you look at theinformation, there's even more
(04:18):
upside that they believe.
So, um, purely a really goodfinancial play.
And you know, what I've read aswell about EA sports is their
revenue mix has moved moretowards reoccurring, you know,
kind of what Ed would kind ofagree with here is that that
kind of a revenue mix allows youto take on.
More debt, it's morepredictable, um, less seasonal
(04:38):
so you can support more debt.
You know, basically returnhigher value to your equity
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (04:43):
So, are Saudis like big gamers or
did I miss something?
How, what is happening?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (04:49):
Well, um, what I don't pretend to be a
geopolitical expert or, youknow, geo, you know, foreign
investment expert, but what is afact is that.
Middle Eastern kingdoms andcountries and governments and
um, uh, sovereign wealth fundshave really got involved in
sports
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (05:09):
Huh.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (05:09):
and among other things, of course, I
mean, not just sports, but someof the more higher profile
investments in like F1 and, and,uh, football teams and, you
know, just all sorts golf.
Yeah.
They, they, they, they basicallystaked the entire lived golf
experience.
To mixed to mixed results.
Um, but eSports is considered asport in a lot of places and,
(05:32):
and ea ea sports themselves aregoing deeper into this world.
So, you know, if you're reallybullish on sports in general,
in, in any form globally, Ithink that's a big part of it.
Um, yeah, makes a lot of sensepre presumably.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (05:47):
Yeah.
I think the other part is thesepetro, kind of petro empires,
Saudis, even like Norway, arelooking at a time horizon, which
is somewhat finite for theability to really capitalize on
their.
Their petrochemical income,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (06:06):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (06:07):
so they're also looking for ways to
diversify
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (06:09):
Hmm.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_ (06:10):
perspective so that that way their, their
societies can continue toflourish after oil may, you
know, decline in importance andin price.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (06:20):
Wow.
So we're talking like a, adiversification of natural
resources.
Long, long term.
We're talking about.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (06:28):
Yeah, certainly, certainly a
diversification from thestandpoint of, what, what is it
gonna take for this country, um,to continue to be economically
successful, at which time, ahundred to 200 years from now,
maybe that oil is no longerdriving our.
Underpinned economy, and sothey're looking at, okay, can I
(06:51):
make long-term investments toreally secure the future of my
country, which has largely beenbased upon oil
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (06:58):
So are,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (06:59):
Yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (06:59):
it's one way to interpret that, that
yeah, Rory's dog is not happyabout this deal.
Um, uh, I have questions aswell.
Um, I have questions as well.
One is like,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22- (07:10):
Actually very happy.
It's
emily-sander_1_10-22-202 (07:11):
happy, happy barking.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (07:12):
Yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (07:13):
are you, so are they betting that
like gaming is gonna be aroundfor 200 years or is that just
like the, the dividend, like theresults revenue we're gonna get
from that are gonna set us up sowell for the next two.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (07:25):
Well I think it's just the, the, the
strategy of.
Moving away from, you know,really a, a singular source of
income, not singular, but a verysignificant source into just
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (07:35):
Okay.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_1 (07:36):
of investments.
Make no mistake, this is aprivate equity investment.
So we've talked about, privateequity doesn't mate for
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (07:41):
Mm.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_1 (07:41):
So this will either be re iPod
eventually, or sold again orwhat have you.
It's probably, it's not like ahold for the lifetime type of
deal because they, you know,they, I say, you know, generally
any.
Private equity group has LPsthey need to, to answer to.
So, you know, whether thatapplies specific, I don't know,
(08:02):
may, maybe there's like adifferent view from, the, the
Saudi piff versus like SilverLake for example.
But, you know, eventually thesedeals
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (08:13):
Who, who are the LPs in this
situation?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (08:18):
Hmm.
Well, like, I mean, eachdifferent investor has maybe the
same l some of the same LPs, butthey have their own LPs.
So like if you talk about SilverLake, it's gonna be probably
your pension funds, endowments,you know, insurance companies.
Really big institutionalinvestors.
And far as like the Saudi Piff,uh, boy, I think that that's
(08:39):
from.
Royal, the, the royal family
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (08:42):
Well.
Well, because in previously yousaid that like, Hey.
LPs could be a sovereign wealthfund such as Saudi Arabia, and
in this case, are they acting asboth or is it separate entities?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (08:54):
Hmm.
Could be, could be.
I don't, I don't know a tonabout, about the Sovereign
Wealth Fund, uh, space.
It's, it's really intriguingactually.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (09:03):
Yeah.
A lot of times the sovereignwealth funds do kind of two
things.
They, they serve similar rolesto like a college endowment
where they, they've got aperpetual life or an expected
perpetual life, and a portion ofthe.
Proceeds are spent every year,let's call it 3%, 4% of the
total balance is, is spent everyyear and c diverted back into,
(09:27):
um, the government's, usuallythe government's, um, budget.
And so what that allows thegovernment to do is obviously
either do more or tax less orboth.
And so that's the.
So there you think about asovereign wealth fund really as
like a college endowment, whichis why the private equity angle
is consistent with kind of thatlong-term we've got.
(09:49):
We don't need immediateliquidity.
We could put a chunk of ourmoney into these private equity
type investments, run it for thelong haul, and then be able to
cash out because we have otherdiversified investments just
like a college endowment would.
That allows the, the SovereignWealth fund to get its cash
needs met, which are only, youknow, three to 5% of the the.
(10:09):
Principal amount, the corpusamount every
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (10:10):
So I have a double barrel question.
So what do you think the play isfrom this PE group?
Like what do you think theywanna do to get their return out
of ea?
And then do you think we'regonna see more of these big
mega.
PE deals.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (10:26):
Hmm.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_15 (10:26):
I will answer the second question
first.
Yes.
I think you're gonna see more ofthese types of deals in the
future almost definitely.
Yeah.
Yeah, no question about it.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (10:35):
I, I actually question whether, but
again, every time I question oneof these, I lose'cause I all, I
wonder why people pay as much asthey do.
But this is one where I don'tknow, is if I see, you know,
normally private equity islooking for a 15, 20% return on
equity on an annualized basis,you know, over a five year time
(10:57):
horizon at doubling.
And I just.
I feel challenged to see howthat works in this particular
investment.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (11:05):
Hmm.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (11:06):
now again, it, it may be when they
throw the leverage on, but it'snot heavily leveraged as Rory
noted.
And when they look at, well, youknow, you've got a.
Group of folks coming up that,you know, might be more in a
gaming, but what I, what I seefrom a demographics perspective
is you have, know, you have anemerging world that you know is
growing, but the, the westernworld, the kind of northern
(11:28):
hemisphere is not really the, isnot really growing that fast.
What we are seeing over thenext, you know, five to 10 years
is actually kind of anotherdecline in, in, uh.
Child in, you know, teenagepopulations.
We saw that, you know, certainlywhen I was in the university
setting, saw that we expectedlower enrollments because you
had lower, uh, graduatingcohorts.
(11:50):
So I don't know where the growthis gonna come from.
Um, and so as a result, it maybe some financial engineering
that they're hoping for.
They could put a lot of money towork and get a reasonably decent
10, 12% return.
But I, I actually don't see.
the rationale was for it otherthan it's kind of a sexy
investment with a
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_150 (12:09):
I was gonna ask is, is it for the
splash?
Like this is a news article,like is it for the, this is the
biggest deal.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (12:15):
think it's, it's got a few different
motivations.
I think there's a lot of moneyto put to work, um, with some of
these, uh, sovereign wealthfunds and other private equity
funds that who knows what kindof.
deal they have amongst oneanother.
Don't know to be determined onthat.
More, more information willprobably come out on that.
But, I would say that there'sprobably some view that there
(12:37):
will be growth, whether thatcomes from acquisition
consolidations, um, you know,some, some, you know, heavy.
Growth organically to bedetermined, but I do know that,
you know, if you looked at thisstock, it was tr it had been
trending up for some time andoutpacing the general market.
So I think, know, some of thethings I've read about it is,
(13:00):
yes, they paid 25% premium onthe stock price, but, uh, some
would even argue it's maybeundervalued.
I don't know the drivers tothat, but I think there's a,
there's a view that there'sprobably to unlock here, but I
mean, that's easier said than
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (13:15):
Do you think that the gaming
industry is just such, such onan upswing?
It's just gonna fill that 25%and more?
Or do you think the PE group isgonna be like, we have an idea
of how to fundamentally changethe gaming industry and we're
gonna like 10 x this thing bydoing this?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (13:35):
Well, I think it's less about the
group themselves, having the.
The grand vision for thatparticular business.
I think it's much more aboutlike, what, what does that
leadership team and
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (13:47):
Hmm.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2 (13:48):
Believe is possible.
And what has been constrainingthem to realize that, and maybe
the, the funding coming fromthese, these different PE
groups, um, in this deal maybecan help unlock some of that.
Maybe it is expanding more intoeSports, um, making, you know,
kind of changing a paradigm,know, who knows what kind of,
um, you know, AI and, you know,virtual reality type of plays
(14:10):
you can make with this kind offundamental game.
don't know a lot ofpossibilities.
I look forward to kind of seeingit roll out and play out.
This won't be tracked pretty,pretty closely, I
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (14:19):
Do you think there're gonna be
downstream impacts to the PEspace in general because of
this?
No.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_15 (14:28):
I don't think so.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (14:29):
as usual.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (14:30):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (14:30):
I mean, it's just bigger business,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-20 (14:32):
bigger business.
Yep.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (14:33):
think as Rory noted, I, and what might
have been driving this MI thinkis the, it's a lot of money that
they're able to put to work andsometimes it's difficult to find
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (14:42):
Yeah.
There we
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (14:43):
Oh.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (14:43):
to put money to work.
So that's a big
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-20 (14:45):
that's right.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (14:46):
work.
And you know, even if theydon't, even if they don't really
hit away.
It's better.
Again, they're now collectingtheir, their management fees.
They've now, you know, done theLP capital call.
They've got the money put towork.
The LPs might think this is a,you know, sexy, high profile
investment that they're nowinvolved in.
(15:07):
And so from a private equityperspective, you know, obviously
they want to get their, theirgood returns.
But putting 55 billion to work,you know, is, is uh, that's a
nice, it's a nice fee base rightthere.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (15:19):
Wow.
I didn't think about it thatway.
It could be like, Hey, we gottado something with this.
It's just, it's just sittingthere.
So let's, let's,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (15:27):
got commit, we got commitments
sitting here and we might have,and we haven't found it, you
know, we can't string togetherenough
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (15:32):
wow.
Okay.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150 (15:33):
actually get that deployed.
Well, let's, let's put togethera big splashy one and you know,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (15:37):
Yeah, I, I'd be super interested to
figure out, like where did theinitial motivation come from?
You know, I don't, I don't knowif it was very much spearheaded
by Saudi Piff and said, Hey, we,we need a couple of.
You know, call it domesticbackers to partner with us on
this deal, um, for any number ofreasons
emily-sander_1_10- (15:59):
Interesting.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (16:00):
But then what is the deal amongst
those groups, you know, isthere, is there economics being
backstop?
Is there, you know, um,structural things that make it
so these, this, these particulargroup of lead investors came
together on this particulardeal.
It's, it's intriguing stuff.
I don't, I don't know.
We'll, we'll learn more, I'msure.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (16:20):
Is this.
Like a weird combination of PEinvestors or it's like, no, like
this is just, you can podge,podge these things together in a
whole bunch of different ways.
This is just one
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_15 (16:32):
I have to admit, this is the first
time I'd ever even known thatJared
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (16:35):
Same, yeah.
Okay.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (16:36):
firm.
So that one I would maybe evenspeculate is more for flash.
I don't know.
That's just me being speculativecompletely.
Um, I, you know, why would hisfirm get a seat at that big
table?
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (16:50):
Well,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (16:50):
know,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_1502 (16:52):
Father,
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (16:52):
yeah, connections.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (16:53):
some
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (16:54):
got the connections.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_15 (16:57):
I mean, I could.
Yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (16:59):
What things are you gonna be looking
for as this one rolls out?
Like what?
Oh, like that's interesting.
Or, Ooh, okay.
That's how they're doing thatone.
Interesting.
What kind of things would youlook out for?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (17:10):
Well, I'm gonna look out for, you
know, what happens with the,with the business, you know, is
it gonna go do different, bigger
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (17:16):
Yeah.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-20 (17:16):
first, first and foremost.
Um, I think that's the biggestone for me.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (17:21):
Yeah, I'm gonna be looking for, you
know, the gaming community andwe're talking like the biggest.
Gaming company or one of thebiggest gaming
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (17:28):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (17:29):
The gaming community is brutal
public and they love to, youknow,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (17:35):
True.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_1502 (17:36):
message boards
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (17:37):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (17:38):
All that.
So I'm, I'm curious to see overthe next couple years whether
the increased debt service,whether the private equity
purchase impacts theircreativity and the gamer's
experience to where it goes toRory's comment, I'm just being a
little more specific, that thebusiness doesn't perform,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (17:56):
Hmm.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (17:57):
way it has historically.
Because instead of going, likeRory had mentioned, well, you
know, this takes a quarterlypressures off and they're able
to do things longer term.
I, I will be curious to see ifit doesn't go the other
direction.
And the private equity guyskinda strangle it a little bit
on the creativity anddevelopment side.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (18:15):
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (18:16):
the, the who are current users of
those products don't skate awaysomewhere else.
So I'll be, I'll be curious tosee what the gamers' reaction is
to this in another 24 months orso, once the current pipeline
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (18:29):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (18:30):
goes out and they've gotta refill the
pipeline with new product.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_1 (18:33):
By the way, on that, we might have
to wait a little while.
I, I've read that to, uh, due tothe, you know, big regulatory
oversight on this one.
You know, a deal might not evenclose till 2027 actually,
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (18:43):
Whoa,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (18:43):
Wow.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (18:44):
yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (18:45):
27.
Why not?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (18:46):
So, uh, I don't have the specifics
on it, but I can only imaginethat the, this being the first
of its kind in, in the biggestof its kind, it's gonna have all
sorts of, domestic andinternational eyes on it and
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_150 (19:01):
I feel like, you know, in the
Jurassic Park movies where it'slike T-Rex was like the biggest
dinosaur.
It was like, oh my gosh, T-Rex.
And then they had the megalodonor whatever that eats the T-Rex
and then they had that one thatjumps out of the water and eats
the biggest.
It's like, this is gonna getcrazy.
But um, yeah.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (19:17):
yeah.
I remember back in the day, likethe RJR and dub biska was just
like mind blowing in, in termsof its size at the time, and
this is, I mean, this is.
You know, deals are just getting
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (19:27):
Yeah,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (19:27):
big.
I mean, it just is.
You, you look, you know, look atsome of our biggest companies.
I mean, they're literally atrillion dollar valuations plus,
you know, and growing.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (19:37):
Quick hit exit questions for you.
How, how many years do you thinkthis hold will be?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (19:47):
I'm gonna say between seven and 10
years.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (19:49):
I was right there with you.
I was thinking seven
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (19:51):
one's a little special.
I think it's gonna be a longerduration, I think.
Yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (19:55):
Who do you think the next buyer will
be?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (19:59):
I'd say the
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (20:00):
Oh,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (20:00):
Yep.
Public market.
It'll be an IPO.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (20:03):
Yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (20:04):
how much money would you pay to be
in the board meeting with all ofthose PE groups and the
leadership meeting at ea?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (20:11):
They need to pay me.
I could
emily-sander_1_10-22-202 (20:13):
That's right.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_1 (20:13):
of wisdom on this deal.
I'm sure of it.
You know,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (20:16):
Yeah, I.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_15 (20:17):
I did.
I'd least like need a, you know,um, you know, a coffee and a
sandwich and compensationsitting there.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (20:24):
I think EEA has been so
corporatized over the lastperiod of time, you know,'cause
they are a huge public companythat I think probably the board
meetings will not be that muchdifferent.
Under new ownership than theywere under old ownership.
I,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (20:39):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (20:40):
so I, I, especially with them being a
public company, so I don'texpect it's gonna, all of a
sudden the are gonna be goneand, you know, gonna
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-20 (20:48):
Right,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (20:48):
the conference
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (20:49):
Any final thoughts on this one?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (20:52):
No, super, super interesting.
Um, I think, I think this is onewhere probably people have seen
a lot of headlines, and maybethis is, this is something we
can kind of break down a littlebit.
So hopefully, hopefully,hopefully, uh, the audience got
a little
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (21:06):
Yeah,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (21:06):
it.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_1 (21:08):
Cautiously skeptical.
emily-sander_1_10-22 (21:09):
cautiously skeptical.
Well, cool.
We saw that news article.
Wanted to break it down for forour listeners and we'll keep
track of this one, so we mightdo kind of round two, round
three and see what unfolds.
Thanks, Rory.
Thanks, ed.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (21:21):
Thank you.
Alright.
So we're doing a quick hit of anarticle we came across that goes
back to one of our previousepisodes.
So here's the title of thisarticle, video Gamer Electronic
Arts to be bought in largestever Private Equity buyout.
Valued at 55 billion with a B
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (00:19):
With a
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (00:20):
is like that sounds like a lot to
me.
Is this a lot of money we'retalking about in PE Land.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (00:25):
it's a big one.
It's a big one you got, but yougot some big hitters at the
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (00:28):
Okay, break someone.
Break this down.
Gimme like the little primeroverview of what, what this is.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (00:36):
Well, EEA Sports, I think a lot of
people know they're, um, they'rea gaming company and, you know,
they've, they've continued toevolve their business over the
years into more sort of liveexperience.
Uh.
Uh, what is it, you know, uh,game sports or electronic
sports, that's like becoming areally big industry.
And, their, their stock hadactually been doing pretty well
over the last year.
(00:56):
I think it's, uh, you know, p500 by like, you know, 15% or
something significant like that.
So it's, it is a business thathas been doing well.
Um, but also ripe for, you know,some, um, private company
takeover.
So they, they decided to sell toa consortium of private equity
buyers.
Um, most significantly is kindof been in the news.
(01:19):
the public investment fund ofSaudi Arabia is a, is an
investor, and they've been aninvestor up to this point.
They've been almost a 10%stakeholder, but they've.
Increase their position.
Um, and Silver Lake Partners.
Another really big PE groupthat, uh, is big in tech and
gaming as well.
And not last but not least, uh,Jared Kushner's private equity
fund.
(01:40):
son-in-law of, uh, potus, uh,they're in the, in the mix too,
probably some others as
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_150 (01:45):
I just like as a reminder for
people leverage buyout.
'cause someone just like brieflysummarize.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (01:51):
Ed, you take that one.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (01:52):
Yeah, so a leverage buyout essentially
says it's when you buy a house,you're doing a leverage buyout.
Essentially you're saying, okay,my house is gonna cost half a
million dollars.
I'm gonna put.
$250,000 down and borrow250,000.
That's all that's leverage.
That's the debt.
And so a leverage buyout likethis would be a situation where
they go, the purchase pricemight be 55 billion and they're
(02:15):
gonna put 11 billion down incash and borrow the remaining$44
billion in a series of bonds orprivate placements so that that
way they can pay that off overtime with the cash flow from the
business.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (02:28):
Okay.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (02:29):
well in this case they, they went a
little bit heavier on theleverage.
They went 36 billion in equity,uh, most of which funded at
close and, uh, 19 billion indebt provided by JP Morgan
Chase.
So you think about that as likeyour, your leveraging,
leveraging, you know, 34% of thepurchase price is, is, uh,
funded by
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (02:48):
Just for reference, like what's
average.
What's an average percentage?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (02:54):
Hmm.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (02:56):
What I, what I've seen on the tech
enabled services side hasgenerally been closer to what
Rory just said, about a third to40% might be debt, and the rest
of it's gonna be equity.
Because you still need, and thisis I think, gonna be one of the
challenges with this investment,not only is it large, but you
still need cash flow to reinvestin product because technology
goes stale very quickly.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (03:16):
Yeah, that's right.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (03:17):
so you're gonna continuously need
cash flow that.
You know, with a RJR Nabisco,let's say, when they went
private on a leverage buyoutback 40 years ago, they were
just cashflow rich and they,they use
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (03:29):
Hmm.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (03:29):
pay the debt service.
Something like ea they're gonnahave to reinvest in new, in new
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (03:33):
Why did they do this?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2 (03:37):
Variety of different reasons.
I think, um, you know, some ofthe things I've read is, has
been around, know, when you takeyourself out of the public
sphere.
less managing quarter toquarter, you're able to, you
know, have a bit longer termvision, you know, presumably
more patient capital if youwill.
Um, and, you know, their, theirmodel is changing.
(03:58):
And so there, you know, there's,there is a lot more product
development to be had and, andsome of that has longer time
horizons on it.
And so, you know, the other, theother element too is.
Um, you know, from a buyerstandpoint, you know, they paid
a 25% premium on the stockprice, uh, per share.
But, uh, if you look at theinformation, there's even more
(04:18):
upside that they believe.
So, um, purely a really goodfinancial play.
And you know, what I've read aswell about EA sports is their
revenue mix has moved moretowards reoccurring, you know,
kind of what Ed would kind ofagree with here is that that
kind of a revenue mix allows youto take on.
More debt, it's morepredictable, um, less seasonal
(04:38):
so you can support more debt.
You know, basically returnhigher value to your equity
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (04:43):
So, are Saudis like big gamers or
did I miss something?
How, what is happening?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (04:49):
Well, um, what I don't pretend to be a
geopolitical expert or, youknow, geo, you know, foreign
investment expert, but what is afact is that.
Middle Eastern kingdoms andcountries and governments and
um, uh, sovereign wealth fundshave really got involved in
sports
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (05:09):
Huh.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (05:09):
and among other things, of course, I
mean, not just sports, but someof the more higher profile
investments in like F1 and, and,uh, football teams and, you
know, just all sorts golf.
Yeah.
They, they, they, they basicallystaked the entire lived golf
experience.
To mixed to mixed results.
Um, but eSports is considered asport in a lot of places and,
(05:32):
and ea ea sports themselves aregoing deeper into this world.
So, you know, if you're reallybullish on sports in general,
in, in any form globally, Ithink that's a big part of it.
Um, yeah, makes a lot of sensepre presumably.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (05:47):
Yeah.
I think the other part is thesepetro, kind of petro empires,
Saudis, even like Norway, arelooking at a time horizon, which
is somewhat finite for theability to really capitalize on
their.
Their petrochemical income,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (06:06):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (06:07):
so they're also looking for ways to
diversify
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (06:09):
Hmm.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_ (06:10):
perspective so that that way their, their
societies can continue toflourish after oil may, you
know, decline in importance andin price.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (06:20):
Wow.
So we're talking like a, adiversification of natural
resources.
Long, long term.
We're talking about.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (06:28):
Yeah, certainly, certainly a
diversification from thestandpoint of, what, what is it
gonna take for this country, um,to continue to be economically
successful, at which time, ahundred to 200 years from now,
maybe that oil is no longerdriving our.
Underpinned economy, and sothey're looking at, okay, can I
(06:51):
make long-term investments toreally secure the future of my
country, which has largely beenbased upon oil
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (06:58):
So are,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (06:59):
Yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (06:59):
it's one way to interpret that, that
yeah, Rory's dog is not happyabout this deal.
Um, uh, I have questions aswell.
Um, I have questions as well.
One is like,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22- (07:10):
Actually very happy.
It's
emily-sander_1_10-22-202 (07:11):
happy, happy barking.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (07:12):
Yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (07:13):
are you, so are they betting that
like gaming is gonna be aroundfor 200 years or is that just
like the, the dividend, like theresults revenue we're gonna get
from that are gonna set us up sowell for the next two.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (07:25):
Well I think it's just the, the, the
strategy of.
Moving away from, you know,really a, a singular source of
income, not singular, but a verysignificant source into just
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (07:35):
Okay.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_1 (07:36):
of investments.
Make no mistake, this is aprivate equity investment.
So we've talked about, privateequity doesn't mate for
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (07:41):
Mm.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_1 (07:41):
So this will either be re iPod
eventually, or sold again orwhat have you.
It's probably, it's not like ahold for the lifetime type of
deal because they, you know,they, I say, you know, generally
any.
Private equity group has LPsthey need to, to answer to.
So, you know, whether thatapplies specific, I don't know,
(08:02):
may, maybe there's like adifferent view from, the, the
Saudi piff versus like SilverLake for example.
But, you know, eventually thesedeals
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (08:13):
Who, who are the LPs in this
situation?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (08:18):
Hmm.
Well, like, I mean, eachdifferent investor has maybe the
same l some of the same LPs, butthey have their own LPs.
So like if you talk about SilverLake, it's gonna be probably
your pension funds, endowments,you know, insurance companies.
Really big institutionalinvestors.
And far as like the Saudi Piff,uh, boy, I think that that's
(08:39):
from.
Royal, the, the royal family
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (08:42):
Well.
Well, because in previously yousaid that like, Hey.
LPs could be a sovereign wealthfund such as Saudi Arabia, and
in this case, are they acting asboth or is it separate entities?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (08:54):
Hmm.
Could be, could be.
I don't, I don't know a tonabout, about the Sovereign
Wealth Fund, uh, space.
It's, it's really intriguingactually.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (09:03):
Yeah.
A lot of times the sovereignwealth funds do kind of two
things.
They, they serve similar rolesto like a college endowment
where they, they've got aperpetual life or an expected
perpetual life, and a portion ofthe.
Proceeds are spent every year,let's call it 3%, 4% of the
total balance is, is spent everyyear and c diverted back into,
(09:27):
um, the government's, usuallythe government's, um, budget.
And so what that allows thegovernment to do is obviously
either do more or tax less orboth.
And so that's the.
So there you think about asovereign wealth fund really as
like a college endowment, whichis why the private equity angle
is consistent with kind of thatlong-term we've got.
(09:49):
We don't need immediateliquidity.
We could put a chunk of ourmoney into these private equity
type investments, run it for thelong haul, and then be able to
cash out because we have otherdiversified investments just
like a college endowment would.
That allows the, the SovereignWealth fund to get its cash
needs met, which are only, youknow, three to 5% of the the.
(10:09):
Principal amount, the corpusamount every
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (10:10):
So I have a double barrel question.
So what do you think the play isfrom this PE group?
Like what do you think theywanna do to get their return out
of ea?
And then do you think we'regonna see more of these big
mega.
PE deals.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (10:26):
Hmm.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_15 (10:26):
I will answer the second question
first.
Yes.
I think you're gonna see more ofthese types of deals in the
future almost definitely.
Yeah.
Yeah, no question about it.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (10:35):
I, I actually question whether, but
again, every time I question oneof these, I lose'cause I all, I
wonder why people pay as much asthey do.
But this is one where I don'tknow, is if I see, you know,
normally private equity islooking for a 15, 20% return on
equity on an annualized basis,you know, over a five year time
(10:57):
horizon at doubling.
And I just.
I feel challenged to see howthat works in this particular
investment.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (11:05):
Hmm.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (11:06):
now again, it, it may be when they
throw the leverage on, but it'snot heavily leveraged as Rory
noted.
And when they look at, well, youknow, you've got a.
Group of folks coming up that,you know, might be more in a
gaming, but what I, what I seefrom a demographics perspective
is you have, know, you have anemerging world that you know is
growing, but the, the westernworld, the kind of northern
(11:28):
hemisphere is not really the, isnot really growing that fast.
What we are seeing over thenext, you know, five to 10 years
is actually kind of anotherdecline in, in, uh.
Child in, you know, teenagepopulations.
We saw that, you know, certainlywhen I was in the university
setting, saw that we expectedlower enrollments because you
had lower, uh, graduatingcohorts.
(11:50):
So I don't know where the growthis gonna come from.
Um, and so as a result, it maybe some financial engineering
that they're hoping for.
They could put a lot of money towork and get a reasonably decent
10, 12% return.
But I, I actually don't see.
the rationale was for it otherthan it's kind of a sexy
investment with a
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_150 (12:09):
I was gonna ask is, is it for the
splash?
Like this is a news article,like is it for the, this is the
biggest deal.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (12:15):
think it's, it's got a few different
motivations.
I think there's a lot of moneyto put to work, um, with some of
these, uh, sovereign wealthfunds and other private equity
funds that who knows what kindof.
deal they have amongst oneanother.
Don't know to be determined onthat.
More, more information willprobably come out on that.
But, I would say that there'sprobably some view that there
(12:37):
will be growth, whether thatcomes from acquisition
consolidations, um, you know,some, some, you know, heavy.
Growth organically to bedetermined, but I do know that,
you know, if you looked at thisstock, it was tr it had been
trending up for some time andoutpacing the general market.
So I think, know, some of thethings I've read about it is,
(13:00):
yes, they paid 25% premium onthe stock price, but, uh, some
would even argue it's maybeundervalued.
I don't know the drivers tothat, but I think there's a,
there's a view that there'sprobably to unlock here, but I
mean, that's easier said than
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (13:15):
Do you think that the gaming
industry is just such, such onan upswing?
It's just gonna fill that 25%and more?
Or do you think the PE group isgonna be like, we have an idea
of how to fundamentally changethe gaming industry and we're
gonna like 10 x this thing bydoing this?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (13:35):
Well, I think it's less about the
group themselves, having the.
The grand vision for thatparticular business.
I think it's much more aboutlike, what, what does that
leadership team and
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (13:47):
Hmm.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2 (13:48):
Believe is possible.
And what has been constrainingthem to realize that, and maybe
the, the funding coming fromthese, these different PE
groups, um, in this deal maybecan help unlock some of that.
Maybe it is expanding more intoeSports, um, making, you know,
kind of changing a paradigm,know, who knows what kind of,
um, you know, AI and, you know,virtual reality type of plays
(14:10):
you can make with this kind offundamental game.
don't know a lot ofpossibilities.
I look forward to kind of seeingit roll out and play out.
This won't be tracked pretty,pretty closely, I
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (14:19):
Do you think there're gonna be
downstream impacts to the PEspace in general because of
this?
No.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_15 (14:28):
I don't think so.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (14:29):
as usual.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (14:30):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (14:30):
I mean, it's just bigger business,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-20 (14:32):
bigger business.
Yep.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (14:33):
think as Rory noted, I, and what might
have been driving this MI thinkis the, it's a lot of money that
they're able to put to work andsometimes it's difficult to find
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (14:42):
Yeah.
There we
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (14:43):
Oh.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (14:43):
to put money to work.
So that's a big
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-20 (14:45):
that's right.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (14:46):
work.
And you know, even if theydon't, even if they don't really
hit away.
It's better.
Again, they're now collectingtheir, their management fees.
They've now, you know, done theLP capital call.
They've got the money put towork.
The LPs might think this is a,you know, sexy, high profile
investment that they're nowinvolved in.
(15:07):
And so from a private equityperspective, you know, obviously
they want to get their, theirgood returns.
But putting 55 billion to work,you know, is, is uh, that's a
nice, it's a nice fee base rightthere.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (15:19):
Wow.
I didn't think about it thatway.
It could be like, Hey, we gottado something with this.
It's just, it's just sittingthere.
So let's, let's,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (15:27):
got commit, we got commitments
sitting here and we might have,and we haven't found it, you
know, we can't string togetherenough
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (15:32):
wow.
Okay.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150 (15:33):
actually get that deployed.
Well, let's, let's put togethera big splashy one and you know,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (15:37):
Yeah, I, I'd be super interested to
figure out, like where did theinitial motivation come from?
You know, I don't, I don't knowif it was very much spearheaded
by Saudi Piff and said, Hey, we,we need a couple of.
You know, call it domesticbackers to partner with us on
this deal, um, for any number ofreasons
emily-sander_1_10- (15:59):
Interesting.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (16:00):
But then what is the deal amongst
those groups, you know, isthere, is there economics being
backstop?
Is there, you know, um,structural things that make it
so these, this, these particulargroup of lead investors came
together on this particulardeal.
It's, it's intriguing stuff.
I don't, I don't know.
We'll, we'll learn more, I'msure.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_15 (16:20):
Is this.
Like a weird combination of PEinvestors or it's like, no, like
this is just, you can podge,podge these things together in a
whole bunch of different ways.
This is just one
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_15 (16:32):
I have to admit, this is the first
time I'd ever even known thatJared
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (16:35):
Same, yeah.
Okay.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (16:36):
firm.
So that one I would maybe evenspeculate is more for flash.
I don't know.
That's just me being speculativecompletely.
Um, I, you know, why would hisfirm get a seat at that big
table?
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (16:50):
Well,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (16:50):
know,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_1502 (16:52):
Father,
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (16:52):
yeah, connections.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (16:53):
some
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (16:54):
got the connections.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_15 (16:57):
I mean, I could.
Yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_ (16:59):
What things are you gonna be looking
for as this one rolls out?
Like what?
Oh, like that's interesting.
Or, Ooh, okay.
That's how they're doing thatone.
Interesting.
What kind of things would youlook out for?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (17:10):
Well, I'm gonna look out for, you
know, what happens with the,with the business, you know, is
it gonna go do different, bigger
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (17:16):
Yeah.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-20 (17:16):
first, first and foremost.
Um, I think that's the biggestone for me.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (17:21):
Yeah, I'm gonna be looking for, you
know, the gaming community andwe're talking like the biggest.
Gaming company or one of thebiggest gaming
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (17:28):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (17:29):
The gaming community is brutal
public and they love to, youknow,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (17:35):
True.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_1502 (17:36):
message boards
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (17:37):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (17:38):
All that.
So I'm, I'm curious to see overthe next couple years whether
the increased debt service,whether the private equity
purchase impacts theircreativity and the gamer's
experience to where it goes toRory's comment, I'm just being a
little more specific, that thebusiness doesn't perform,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (17:56):
Hmm.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (17:57):
way it has historically.
Because instead of going, likeRory had mentioned, well, you
know, this takes a quarterlypressures off and they're able
to do things longer term.
I, I will be curious to see ifit doesn't go the other
direction.
And the private equity guyskinda strangle it a little bit
on the creativity anddevelopment side.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (18:15):
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (18:16):
the, the who are current users of
those products don't skate awaysomewhere else.
So I'll be, I'll be curious tosee what the gamers' reaction is
to this in another 24 months orso, once the current pipeline
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (18:29):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (18:30):
goes out and they've gotta refill the
pipeline with new product.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_1 (18:33):
By the way, on that, we might have
to wait a little while.
I, I've read that to, uh, due tothe, you know, big regulatory
oversight on this one.
You know, a deal might not evenclose till 2027 actually,
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (18:43):
Whoa,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (18:43):
Wow.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (18:44):
yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (18:45):
27.
Why not?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (18:46):
So, uh, I don't have the specifics
on it, but I can only imaginethat the, this being the first
of its kind in, in the biggestof its kind, it's gonna have all
sorts of, domestic andinternational eyes on it and
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_150 (19:01):
I feel like, you know, in the
Jurassic Park movies where it'slike T-Rex was like the biggest
dinosaur.
It was like, oh my gosh, T-Rex.
And then they had the megalodonor whatever that eats the T-Rex
and then they had that one thatjumps out of the water and eats
the biggest.
It's like, this is gonna getcrazy.
But um, yeah.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (19:17):
yeah.
I remember back in the day, likethe RJR and dub biska was just
like mind blowing in, in termsof its size at the time, and
this is, I mean, this is.
You know, deals are just getting
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (19:27):
Yeah,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (19:27):
big.
I mean, it just is.
You, you look, you know, look atsome of our biggest companies.
I mean, they're literally atrillion dollar valuations plus,
you know, and growing.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (19:37):
Quick hit exit questions for you.
How, how many years do you thinkthis hold will be?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (19:47):
I'm gonna say between seven and 10
years.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (19:49):
I was right there with you.
I was thinking seven
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (19:51):
one's a little special.
I think it's gonna be a longerduration, I think.
Yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (19:55):
Who do you think the next buyer will
be?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (19:59):
I'd say the
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (20:00):
Oh,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (20:00):
Yep.
Public market.
It'll be an IPO.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (20:03):
Yeah.
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (20:04):
how much money would you pay to be
in the board meeting with all ofthose PE groups and the
leadership meeting at ea?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025 (20:11):
They need to pay me.
I could
emily-sander_1_10-22-202 (20:13):
That's right.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_1 (20:13):
of wisdom on this deal.
I'm sure of it.
You know,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (20:16):
Yeah, I.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_15 (20:17):
I did.
I'd least like need a, you know,um, you know, a coffee and a
sandwich and compensationsitting there.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (20:24):
I think EEA has been so
corporatized over the lastperiod of time, you know,'cause
they are a huge public companythat I think probably the board
meetings will not be that muchdifferent.
Under new ownership than theywere under old ownership.
I,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (20:39):
Yeah.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (20:40):
so I, I, especially with them being a
public company, so I don'texpect it's gonna, all of a
sudden the are gonna be goneand, you know, gonna
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-20 (20:48):
Right,
eddie_1_10-22-2025_150242 (20:48):
the conference
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025_1 (20:49):
Any final thoughts on this one?
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (20:52):
No, super, super interesting.
Um, I think, I think this is onewhere probably people have seen
a lot of headlines, and maybethis is, this is something we
can kind of break down a littlebit.
So hopefully, hopefully,hopefully, uh, the audience got
a little
emily-sander_1_10-22-2025 (21:06):
Yeah,
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-2025_ (21:06):
it.
eddie_1_10-22-2025_1 (21:08):
Cautiously skeptical.
emily-sander_1_10-22 (21:09):
cautiously skeptical.
Well, cool.
We saw that news article.
Wanted to break it down for forour listeners and we'll keep
track of this one, so we mightdo kind of round two, round
three and see what unfolds.
Thanks, Rory.
Thanks, ed.
rory-liebhart_1_10-22-202 (21:21):
Thank you.
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