Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund made a takeover approach for Unity Software, The Information reported on 6 November under the headline “Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s PIF Made Takeover Approach for Unity Software”. The two firms acquired Electronic Arts for $55 billion earlier this year.
Reuters reported, citing sources, that Unity was valued at $25 billion in the talks, according to GamesIndustry.biz’s account of the Reuters report (GamesIndustry.biz). Unity declined to comment, and Silver Lake and PIF “did not immediately respond” to Reuters.
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The key insight: The Information reported on 6 November that Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia’s PIF made a takeover approach for Unity Software, and Reuters reported a $25 billion valuation in the talks; at Unity’s 5 November close of $48.80 its market value was about $21.7 billion, by our arithmetic.
According to the GamesIndustry.biz account of the Reuters report, sources indicated that “a consortium of investors discussed this valuation prior to Unity’s latest financial report”. Sources also told Reuters: “Unity has been working with an investment bank to evaluate its options following the approach” and “No deal is certain, and the plan and terms may still change”.
Silver Lake already owns an 8% stake in Unity, having invested $400 million in May 2017 when the company was valued at $2.6 billion, GamesIndustry.biz wrote.
Unity’s market value at its official closes on 4, 5 and 6 November 2026 (443.8 million shares from its 10-Q times the Nasdaq-reported close) against the $25 billion valuation Reuters reported in the talks. Market values and percentages are our arithmetic.
What Unity’s Filing Shows
Unity’s quarterly report for the three months to 30 September, filed on 5 November (Form 10-Q), shows total revenue of $622.1 million against $470.6 million a year earlier, and net income of $121.6 million against a $126.8 million loss.
The filing says revenue rose “primarily due to an increase in Grow Solutions revenue from growth in the Unity Ads Network, driven by Unity Vector”. Grow Solutions revenue was $457.0 million, up from $318.3 million; Create Solutions revenue was $165.1 million, up from $152.4 million.
The 10-Q lists 443,828,709 common shares outstanding as of 28 October, cash and cash equivalents of $2.65 billion, and convertible notes carried at $2.24 billion across current and long-term portions.
Our Numbers
At Unity’s official close of $48.80 on 5 November, the 443.8 million shares were worth about $21.7 billion, so the reported $25 billion valuation was about 15% above that (our arithmetic). At the 6 November close of $51.49 the market value was about $22.9 billion, and $25 billion was about 9% above it (our arithmetic). The GamesIndustry.biz account of the Reuters report does not say whether $25 billion is an equity value or an enterprisevalue.
The shares closed at $42.46 on 4 November, so the two sessions that followed added about 21% (our arithmetic). Revenue grew about 32% year on year in the quarter and Grow Solutions about 44% (our arithmetic from the 10-Q).
An 8% stake at a $25 billion valuation would be worth about $2 billion, five times Silver Lake’s reported $400 million investment in 2017 (our arithmetic). The reported Unity figure is about 45% of the $55 billion EA deal (our arithmetic).
Connecting the Coverage
Our earnings piece found that Unity’s Grow unit made 92% of its growth as Vector rose 126% (our piece). Buyout firms earlier weighed a $100 billion-plus deal for Microsoft’s Xbox (our piece). The approach was reported in a week when we counted 25 of 25 large AI-linked stocks down 20% or more from their highs (our piece).
The Structural Read
As we read Unity’s filing, the bid lands on the ads side of the business: the 10-Q says revenue rose primarily on growth in the Unity Ads Network, driven by Unity Vector, with Grow Solutions up about 44% against about 8% for Create Solutions, by our arithmetic.
As we read the numbers, the reported valuation was about 15% above the 5 November market value and about 9% above the 6 November value, by our arithmetic, so the gap narrowed from about 15% to about 9% in one session.
As we read what is missing, the GamesIndustry.biz account of the Reuters report gives no price per share or financing, so the premium per share cannot be set.
Sources to Reuters, as relayed by GamesIndustry.biz
“No deal is certain, and the plan and terms may still change”
Three Implications
FOR UNITY HOLDERS The 10-Q lists 443,828,709 shares outstanding as of 28 October; the official close was $51.49 on 6 November.
FOR SILVER LAKE GamesIndustry.biz wrote that Silver Lake already owns an 8% stake, from a $400 million investment in May 2017 at a $2.6 billion valuation.
FOR UNITY’S BALANCE SHEET The 10-Q shows cash and cash equivalents of $2.65 billion and convertible notes carried at $2.24 billion across current and long-term portions.
The analysis says: “The SaaS market is splitting into two irreconcilable extremes—and the middle is being evacuated.”
As we read Unity’s 10-Q, Create Solutions revenue grew about 8% and its Vector-driven Grow Solutions revenue about 44% in the quarter (our arithmetic). The analysis does not discuss Unity or this approach.
What Is Not Established
No company has confirmed the talks: Unity declined to comment and Silver Lake and PIF did not immediately respond, per the reports. We have read The Information’s headline but not its article, and the Reuters details come from the GamesIndustry.biz account. The GamesIndustry.biz account of the Reuters report gives no price per share, financing or timetable, and sources said the terms may change and no deal is certain.
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The Information reported that Silver Lake and PIF, EA’s buyers, made a takeover approach for Unity, and Reuters reported a $25 billion valuation in the talks, about 15% above Unity’s market value at the 5 November close by our arithmetic. Unity’s filing ties its latest revenuegrowth mainly to its Vector-driven ads network.
A note on sourcing. The takeover approach is from The Information’s 6 November headline; the $25 billion valuation, the sources’ quotes and the stake history come from Reuters as relayed by GamesIndustry.biz, linked in the text. Revenue, share count, cash and notes are from Unity’s 10-Q; closing prices are official Nasdaq-reported closes. The percentages and market values are our arithmetic. This is not investment advice.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
