Report: Electronic Arts exploring sale, stock jumps 9 percent

Electronic Arts is "quietly exploring" a sale of the company, according to the New York Post.

Electronic Arts is "quietly exploring" a sale of the company, according to the New York Post.

The company has reportedly been approached by two private-equity firms, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Providence Equity Partners, and preliminary discussions are said to be under way. Providence Equity has invested a total of $450 million in ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks and id Software, since 2007.

EA's stock closed at $13.09 yesterday, up 3 percent. Following the Post's overnight report, the share price jumped 9 percent to open at $14.28 this morning, and has been fluctuating throughout the day. The Post quoted one source as saying EA would approve a sale that valued its stock at $20 per share.

The report follows rumors earlier this year that Korean free-to-play publisher Nexon sought a purchase of EA; those rumors turned out to be untrue, as the two companies teamed up for FIFA Online 3 in Korea.

We've reached out to Electronic Arts for comment, and will update this post with any information we receive.

Update: An EA representative told Polygon, "We don't comment on rumors and speculation."