Saudi PIF's $55 Billion EA Deal Gets EU Approval Under Subsidy Rules
The deal would make EA private and is expected to be the second-largest acquisition in video game history, after Microsoft’s $75.4 billion Activision Blizzard purchase.
- Electronic Arts announced Thursday that all regulatory approvals for its $55 billion sale have been obtained, with the merger expected to close on August 4, 2026.
- A consortium composed of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund , Silver Lake Partners, and Affinity Partners—a private equity firm owned by President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner—will acquire the company.
- This deal represents the second-largest gaming acquisition, trailing only Microsoft's $75.4 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard in 2023; CEO Andrew Wilson received an $8 million bonus for past fiscal performance.
- Taking the company private will end public financial disclosures; Wilson is expected to remain CEO at the California headquarters, though thousands of employees face uncertainty following recent layoffs affecting Apex Legends and BioWare.
- The Saudi Arabia PIF has aggressively expanded its gaming portfolio, purchasing stakes in Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive, and has fully acquired mobile developers Scopely and Niantic, creators of Pokemon.
24 Articles
24 Articles
The European Commission has approved the multi-billion euro takeover of computer games company Electronic Arts (EA), known for games such as EA Sports FC and The Sims. A group of investors led by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF paid 55 billion euros last year to acquire EA and take it off the New York stock exchange.
The EU clears the $55bn Saudi-led buyout of EA under its subsidy rules
The European Commission approved the PIF-led take-private of Electronic Arts under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation, removing one of the last hurdles to the biggest leveraged buyout ever. The European Union has cleared the $55bn takeover of Electronic Arts by a Saudi-led consortium, removing one of the last regulatory hurdles to the largest leveraged buyout in […] This story continues at The Next Web
Saudi PIF's $55 billion EA deal gets EU approval under subsidy rules
BRUSSELS, July 31 : Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and a group of investors have gained EU approval for their $55 billion acquisition of video game developer Electronic Arts under the bloc's subsidy rules, a European Commission filing showed on Friday.In a regulatory filing on Thursday, Electronic Arts
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