EA reportedly nearing $50 billion deal to go private with money from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment fund and a private equity firm, which would "likely be the largest leveraged buyout of all time"

EA is reportedly nearing a deal to go private that could be revealed as soon as next week.

The deal would, in the most basic terms, see the company taken off the stock market with its shares going to private investors, and with a potential value of $50 billion, would seemingly be the biggest deal of its kind ever recorded.

Private equity firm Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund are named among a group of investors putting up the money for the deal in a new report from the Wall Street Journal (paid article link). EA's market value is estimated at "around $43 billion," but while "discussions on price are still underway," WSJ's sources suggest that the company "could be valued at as much as $50 billion."

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"Assuming a deal comes together, it is likely to rank as the largest leveraged buyout ever, not adjusting for inflation," according to the report.

The involvement of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is particularly notable, as it already owns major stakes in numerous video game publishers, including Take-Two Interactive, Nintendo, and EA itself.

While EA owns many beloved gaming franchises, its big moneymakers are its sports franchises, particularly its takes on both kinds of football with EA Sports FC, Madden NFL, and College Football. A game like Mass Effect 5 is barely a blip in front of those moneymakers, but it's effectively impossible to guess what this kind of deal would mean for any of EA's big series.

Ubisoft says it has creative control over the Assassin's Creed Mirage DLC, which is set in Saudi Arabia, was announced in Saudi Arabia, and which even employees fear might be funded by Saudi Arabia.