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The Deal’s Done: EA Acquires Playfish For $275 Million Up-Front, Plus $100 Million Earnout

Playfish said no once, twice ... but perhaps the third time was the charm. The hot social gaming company has been acquired by Electronic Arts, in a deal potentially worth $400 million. Previous reports pegged the price at around $250 million.

EA will pay $275 million in cash, as well as $25 million in equity retention arrangements. Playfish CEO Kristian Segerstrale and the rest of the team also have the opportunity to make $100 million in earnout—provided they hit specific performance goals by the end of 2011. London-based Playfish was backed by around $21 million in funding from Index Ventures and Accel Partners; it will become part of EA Interactive (EAi), the company’s web and wireless-facing division.

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Nov 9, 2009 10:21 AM ET

EA logo Photo: psd

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Posted In: Entertainment, Gaming, Money, M&A & Venture Capital, Mergers & Acquisitions, Social Media, electronic arts, playfish

  • Cristian

    Smart move by both parties. The social gaming space, recent offer-scams scandal aside, has been astoundingly successful and has even greater potential. This acquisition is an important step towards enabling that potential. For a brief analysis of the success of social gaming check out http://digitalpopuli.com/social-gaming/dissecting-the-success-of-social-gaming/

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