Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), along with investment firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, is reportedly in discussions to acquire Unity Software. This potential deal follows the consortium's recent $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts.
Reuters reports that Silver Lake, already a significant shareholder in Unity with an approximately 8% stake acquired in 2017, is participating in these talks. Egon Durban, a managing director at Silver Lake, also holds a board seat at Unity, a position that would typically require recusal from sale deliberations.
Discussions have reportedly centered on a valuation of around $25 billion. Unity's financial performance has shown improvement, with its AI-powered Vector advertising platform contributing to its first quarterly GAAP profit since its public debut in September 2020. This follows a period marked by controversy, including the developer's controversial Runtime Fee policy.
The acquisition of EA by the PIF consortium resulted in significant layoffs and the assumption of $18 billion in debt. Concerns are mounting within the industry about the accelerating trend of consolidation, with fears that a few large entities could come to dominate the gaming landscape.