One of the key questions surrounding the largest-ever LBO — the take-private of Electronic Arts (EA) — is how the redemption mechanics for the existing notes will ultimately play out.
On 29 September 2025, EA announced it had entered into an agreement to be acquired by a consortium led by Silver Lake. It currently has three series of notes outstanding — $400m 4.8% SUNs due 2026, $750m 1.85% SUNs due 2031 and $750m 2.95% SUNs due 2051 — with the reported CapTable here and our analysis of the pitch deck and pro-forma CapTable here.
Prior to the announcement, the 2031 SUNs were indicated at 87 and the 2051 SUNs at 64, according to 9fin data. Following the announcement, the SUNs quickly started heading up, and are currently indicated at 96 and 94, respectively.
The question now is whether these notes will be taken out, and if so, at what price.
There are three paths to consider:
- Change of control put
- Make-whole/par redemption, and
- Defeasance of the notes
The change-of-control option:
Let's start with the most obvious question on the news of a LBO — is it a change of control? All of the outstanding notes contain the...
