EA completes $2.4 billion acquisition of Glu Mobile

Electronic Arts has completed its $2.4 billion acquisition of Glu Mobile, the mobile game publisher led by a former EA executive.

The enterprise value of the deal is $2.1 billion, based on Glu’s own cash and other assets. The deal will turn EA into a much bigger player in mobile, as it will add to its own sizable mobile gaming division.

The deal brings together two big mobile-first teams and complementary games across the sports, lifestyle, mid-core, and casual genres. Glu Mobile, based in San Francisco, has more than 800 employees, including 500 developers. EA already has about 10,750 employees.

The combination of Electronic Arts and Glu accelerates EA’s mobile portfolio growth and will fuel new experiences in mobile, the largest gaming platform in the world, the company said. The deal will add significant growth to EA’s mobile business, building on its network of 100 million monthly active players in mobile, and creating a market-leading portfolio of more than 15 top live services across multiple fast-growing genres.

(EA’s Laura Miele and Samantha Ryan, two of the most senior women in games, will speak at our GamesBeat Summit 2021 online event today.)

Marrying EA and Glu

Above: Glu Mobile’s collection of games.

Image Credit: Glu

Glu CEO Nick Earl formerly worked at EA. He will report to Jeff Karp, EA’s senior vice president of mobile. Karp already oversees EA’s existing mobile teams. Glu’s big games include Covet Fashion, Deer Hunter, Design Home, Diner Dash Adventures, Disney Sorcerer’s Arena, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, and MLB Tap Sports Baseball. The Covet Fashion and Design Home games in particular opened up new markets for games targeted at women, and that may have made Glu attractive to EA.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson said the combination of the talented teams and intellectual properties positions EA in the largest gaming category in the world. He said it would form a powerful growth engine to expand current games and deliver more experiences in sports, lifestyle, mid-core, and casual genres.

Earl said in a statement that joining with EA would take Glu’s games to the next level and accelerate its strategic mobile-first approach. There are no layoffs planned. The companies are adding to the organization and they see the businesses as complimentary, a spokesperson said. The deal was not about cost synergies.

The acquisition of Glu Mobile is part of Electronic Arts’ growth strategy focused on delivering more exceptional experiences and top live services, and reaching more players on more platforms around the world.

Glu has locations in San Francisco; Foster City, California; Orlando; Toronto; and Hyderabad.