Electronic Arts stock jumped late Friday on a news report that a group of investors is nearing a deal to take the video game giant private as soon as next week.
The Wall Street Journal said the deal could be worth as much as $50 billion, making it the largest leveraged buyout ever. The investor group includes private-equity firm Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and Jared Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners, the Journal said.
Electronic Arts stock leaped 14.9% to close at 193.35 on the stock market today. Earlier in the session, it jumped over 17% to a record high of 197.33.
Electronic Arts, better known as EA, is the company behind such hit game franchises as "Battlefield," "The Sims," "Madden NFL" and other EA sports titles.
EA stock ranks third out of 25 stocks in IBD's Computer Software-Gaming industry group, below NetEase and Take-Two Interactive Software. Electronic Arts has an IBD Composite Rating of 76 out of 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup.
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