EA Acquires Pandemic, BioWare for $860 million (US)

Electronic Arts announced its acquisition of VG Holding Corp., the company formed by Elevation Partners that owns development studios BioWare and Pandemic Studios. The EA Games president, Frank Gibeau, said that they have been eyeing the two studios for several years, and hoped the acquisition, which costed a tidy sum of $860 million (US), will help fill the void in the EA portfolio for RPG and open-world games. EA's track record of acquisitions have been fairly poor, if you remember these studios: Bullfrog, Westwood, Maxis, and Origin, then you know the story. When the concern was put forward to the future of Pandemic and BioWare, Frank Gibeau responded...

... EA Games president Frank Gibeau said neither BioWare's nor Pandemic's studios would be altered in any way. "These are extremely strong studios in their own right," Gibeau said. "Inside of our label structure, they're going to be maintaining their autonomy and their cultural independence.

More details at the link from Shacknews....

(press release)

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced an agreement with Elevation Partners to acquire VG Holding Corp. -- the owner of both BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios. This acquisition gives EA a strong competitive position in key genres in interactive entertainment: action, adventure and role-playing games. The two studios have been recognized for creating some of the highest-quality games in the industry.

BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios have ten franchises under development, including six wholly owned games. BioWare Corp. is currently developing the highly anticipated Mass Effect, which will be published by Microsoft in November, and is in the early development stages of a massively multiplayer online game. Pandemic Studios is redefining open-world games with its upcoming Mercenaries 2: World in Flames? and Saboteur?, in addition to several unannounced projects.

Pandemic Studios and BioWare Corp. employ roughly 800 people across four studios located in Edmonton, Canada; Los Angeles; Austin; and Brisbane, Australia.

?These are two of the most respected studios in the industry and I?m glad to be working with them again. They?ll make a strong contribution to our strategic growth initiatives on quality, online gaming and developing new intellectual properties,? said John Riccitiello, EA?s Chief Executive Officer. ?We also expect this will drive long-term value for our shareholders.?

Pandemic Studios is led by Andrew Goldman, Josh Resnick and Greg Borrud. BioWare Corp. is jointly led by Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka. These teams will join the EA? Games Label run by Frank Gibeau, President of EA Games.

?Pandemic Studios remains focused on attracting the best talent and creating blockbuster action games,? said Josh Resnick, President and Co-founder of Pandemic Studios. ?As a worldwide publishing leader, EA represents the ideal partner to bring our titles to market as global entertainment events.?

?We are truly excited by John Riccitiello?s new vision for EA,? said Ray Muzyka, Co-founder and CEO of BioWare Corp. ?This vision is consistent with BioWare?s focus on crafting the highest quality story-driven games in the world. It will enable us to further the careers of the passionate, creative and hard working teams at BioWare Edmonton and BioWare Austin.?

EA will pay up to $620 million in cash to the stockholders of VG Holding Corp. and will issue up to an additional $155 million in equity to certain employees of VG Holding Corp., which will be subject to time-based or performance-based vesting criteria. EA will also assume outstanding VG Holding Corp. stock options. In addition, EA has agreed to lend VG Holding Corp. up to $35 million through the closing of the acquisition.

Transaction and Financial Information

* The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
* The transaction is expected to close in January 2008.
* On a GAAP basis, the acquisition is expected to be dilutive to EA?s fiscal 2008 results by approximately $0.30 to $0.40 due to non-recurring acquisition-related charges, stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets. This amount is a preliminary estimate based on currently-available information and is subject to change.
* On a non-GAAP basis, the acquisition is expected to be dilutive to EA?s fiscal 2008 fourth quarter results by approximately $0.05. This amount is a preliminary estimate based on currently-available information and is subject to change.