EA's record-breaking buyout rewrites LBO playbook

A new $55B deal rewrites the leveraged buyout playbook with equity-heavy financing.Jeff Jablons, Senior High Yield Analyst covering telecom, cable, satellite, and technology sectors on RBC GAM's BlueBay U.S. Fixed Income team, examines how a video game company’s take-private deal shatters conventional leveraged buyout dynamics.The capital structure flips convention with $36 billion in equity versus just $18 billion in debt, reversing the typical 60-75% debt ratio seen in traditional LBOs.Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund anchors this unprecedented deal with a $30+ billion equity commitment, demonstrating the power of sovereign-scale capital backing.Strong investor demand across US and European debt markets suggests continued appetite for large, complex deals despite Q1 volatility.