The Largest LBO in History

Plus: Fifth Third Acquires Comerica for $10.9B and Paramount pays $150M for The Free Press.

Author

Short Squeez
October 08, 2025

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Good morning! What a good morning it is. My one true love (Excel) turned 40 this month, which was a tough pill to swallow, but Q4 is upon us and deals keep flowing. We had the largest LBO in history announced, then a banking merger, and then a media merger all in about a week.

In addition to all of that, we have tech moguls calling AI a bubble, a nuclear bubble, and Warren B is launching his biggest chem deal in almost a decade.

Oh and to top everything off, JPM is having the fee event of the year, OpenAI is now the world’s most valuable private company, and Elon also cleared $500 billion.

Since I didn’t get a slice of the underwriting fee (yet), I am here with this month’s three biggest deals:

  1. Electronic Arts gets taken private in the largest LBO ever.

  2. Fifth Third Acquires Comerica for $10.9 billion.

  3. Paramount Skydance acquires the Free Press for $150 million

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DEAL OF THE MONTH

Dealmaking is an Art Form

That's right, Barbarians at the Gates who? TXU…never heard of her. It's time the new generation takes over. Video game company Electronic Arts is being taken private in the largest LBO in history, valuing the firm at $55 billion, with JP Morgan providing the largest single bank underwriting commitment ever for an LBO.

What? You think the biggest LBO in history was going to get announced and I wasn't going to cover it? I have been playing video games longer than some of you have been alive, which means this one is right up my alley.

In fact, it's so up my alley that I personally did all of the diligence on EA's IP as part of the transaction diligence.

With my personal biases out of the way, let's get into the dollars, cents and pixels. EA shareholders are receiving $210 / share, representing a 25% premium to the unaffected price of $168.32 / share.

The all-cash deal is being led by PIF (Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund), Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. PIF already owns an existing 9.9% stake in EA, which it is rolling as part of the deal.

Interestingly, the deal seems to be happening near the top, with EA hitting an all-time high on August 14, 2025, just one month before the announcement. Unsurprisingly, EA’s stock has rocketed to just below the acquisition price (again, keeping some room in case the deal doesn't go through).

As mentioned in the intro, the deal has a massive underwriting commitment. The deal is being funded by a $36 billion equity check and $20 billion of debt funding, solely committed by JP Morgan. $18 billion of that funding is expected to be available at close. This marks the single largest underwriting commitment by one bank for an LBO in history.

By the way, at a 2.5% underwriting fee, that is a $500 million potential fee event for JPM. Whatever MD is running that deal will likely be getting his second…or third Hamptons house this summer.

To do the largest LBO in history is pretty impressive, but to do it near the top is a bold move. With heavy hitters like Jeff Bezos and DJ D-Sol recently warning that AI hype may be inflating valuations, there’s a real chance EA is overpriced.

Whether or not that is the case remains to be seen…probably in 5 years when the consortium looks to sell down or take EA public again (hopefully with some operational improvements…which means LinkedIn updates)

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STRATEGIC DEAL OF THE MONTH

Banking’s Newest Third Wheel

Just when you thought the record-setting EA LBO would be the only thing I had to talk about, Fifth Third decides it wants to be more than just a fraction. By the way, I’ll say it. I think Fifth Third is a ridiculous name.

Fifth Third Bancorp has agreed to acquire Comerica in an all‑stock deal that values the Dallas‑based lender at $10.9 billion, creating what bankers are calling the ninth‑largest U.S. lender (make sure you check the footnotes).

So why the sudden bank consolidation? Wasn’t that so 2023? Well, Comerica’s CEO admitted that the Trump administration’s pro‑business stance and plan to streamline banking mergers opened a window that was too good to pass up. 

After surviving the regional‑bank crisis of 2023, Comerica realized it needed a bigger retail presence. Fifth Third saw an opportunity to bulk up its crown‑jewel middle‑market franchise, and suddenly bankers everywhere began dusting off their “merger of equals” pitch books.

The deal is an all-stock consideration with Comerica shareholders receiving 1.8663 Fifth Third shares for each Comerica share, valuing Comerica at $83.88 / share (a ~20% premium to the 10-day VWAP).

Fifth Third shareholders will control ~73% of the pro forma company with Comerica shareholders holding the balance (27% if math isn’t your thing).

Fifth Third’s share price dropped ~1.4% on the news, which honestly isn’t the worst we have seen, but definitely isn’t a ringing endorsement.

Comerica, on the other hand, jumped ~13.7% on the news, trading up to $80 / share. Clearly, the owners of Comerica are happy to take a piece of Fifth Third (hopefully they can give it a name change) and are also pleased with the 20% premium.

All in all, this is another consolidation play, of which there have been several this year. Though, this is one of the first bank consolidations we have seen since the SVB debacle in 2023. Who knows, maybe when this is over, Fifth Third can evolve to Sixth Third.

EXIT OF THE MONTH

Turns Out Freedom Costs Nine Figures

Legacy media just hired its loudest critic. On the same day the banking world paired off, Paramount Skydance announced it would buy The Free Press and install co‑founder Bari Weiss as editor‑in‑chief of CBS News.

The companies didn’t disclose the price, but a person familiar with the matter spilled the tea like it was December 1773. Apparently, the Free Press wasn’t so free after all and cost Paramount about a cool 9 figures ($150 million).

Legacy media is having an identity crisis. David Ellison, son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, inherited a network with a shrinking audience. The “CBS Evening News” averages just 3.8 million viewers.

He promised regulators that his revamped company would reflect a diversity of viewpoints, and hiring Bari Weiss - who once said she was the most right‑wing person at The New York Times and the most progressive at The Wall Street Journal - is certainly one way to play that.

Not everyone is cheering. Media veterans called her hiring a “sad shift,” warning that lofty promises often evaporate after the honeymoon.

Critics noted that Weiss has never been a reporter, but fans argue that her knack for building a loyal audience might be exactly what CBS News needs. Either way, the 2025 “media M&A of the year” might be less about spreadsheets and more about time sheets.

Regardless of your politics, this is another example of the American Dream at work. Bari Weiss launched a newsletter on Substack and sold it for a nine‑figure sum four years later. You try calculating that IRR. Kudos to the Free Press team on proving that true freedom costs ~$150 million plus a long-term employment plan.

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