U.S. gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) has agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner\u2019s Affinity Partners for 55billion.GoldmanSachsissettoearnarecord\u2212breaking110 million in advisory fees from the deal, marking the highest single-transaction payout in the bank\u2019s history.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, Goldman Sachs has already received 10millionuponthedeal\u2019sannouncement,withtheremaining100 million to be paid upon completion, expected in early 2026. This fee surpasses Goldman\u2019s previous record of $93 million earned from advising Kellogg\u2019s subsidiary Kellanova in its sale to Mars, Inc.
Nevertheless, the payout remains below the 130millionfeeBankofAmericasecuredin2022foradvisingthe71.5 billion sale of Norfolk Southern railroad to Union Pacific.
EA, renowned for franchises like Madden NFLand Battlefield, is now the subject of the largest leveraged buyout (LBO) in history. Interestingly, Goldman Sachs had not directly earned advisory fees from EA in the past two years, though it received 24millionfromPIFand154 million from Silver Lake during the same period.
With M&A activity rebounding, Goldman\u2019s investment banking division has seen a strong rebound. In Q3 2025, the bank reported a 42% year-over-year surge in investment banking revenue to $2.66 billion, driven by a 60% spike in advisory fees. CEO David Solomon stated that the outlook for large-scale M&A deals is \u201cextremely positive,\u201d\u200b predicting a peak in deal activity between 2026 and 2027.
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