Mergers, acquisitions and consolidation are all the rage with large corporations these days. Microsoft is in the process acquire Activision BlizzardDiscovery and Time Warner recently completed a merger into one major media empire, and Sony is bringing Destiny developer Bungie joins the PlayStation family. What we don’t know about is a now-failed bid for NBC Universal to ramp up its power by folding Electronic art into the company umbrella.
According to a report from Dylan Byers at Puck News, the merger of EA into NBC Universal was going well until the deal fell through in April. Brian Roberts, president and chief executive officer of Comcast Corporation, reportedly wanted to give the business a a bunch of new brands and IPs for a while, and most recently EA has been on this list. “After the Microsoft-Activision deal, Roberts approached Electronic art CEO Andrew Wilson with his proposal to split NBCUniversal and merge the media and gaming giants, four sources with knowledge of the proposal told me,” Byers wrote. Andrew Wilson will lead this new merger with Jeff Shell, head of NBCUniversal, enhanced in Comcast.
According to Byers, the deal fell apart because the two sides were unable to agree on monetary metrics and corporate structure. Despite the dissolution of the merger, Byers also said that EA is looking to Disney for a similar business deal. His sources call the relationship EA wants with Disney “”a relationship that makes more sense” than licensing agreements. Byers points out that the combination of ESPN and electronic Sports could prove to be a lucrative agreement for both parties.
While none of this has been publicly mentioned by any of the entities involved, we will be tracking any of these in the future. Currently, Electronic Arts is working solo but seems willing to combine forces with another company if there is a suitable offer.
[Source: Puck News]
