EU Approves Saudi PIF's $55 Billion Electronic Arts Buyout
The European Commission just waved through the biggest all cash buyout gaming has ever seen, and EA is now one signature away from belonging to Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.
Brussels signed off on July 23, clearing the $55 billion take private of Electronic Arts by a consortium made up of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners. The Commission's reasoning was about as dry as regulatory language gets: the deal has a "limited impact on competition in the markets where the companies are active", so no competition concerns, approval granted under EU merger rules.
Translation for the rest of us: PIF does not own a rival Battlefield, so there is nothing to pull apart.
How we got here
Quick recap, because this thing has been dragging since last autumn. EA announced the deal on September 29, 2025 at $210 per share. Shareholders voted it through on December 22 with roughly 99% in favour. JPMorgan lined up more than $20 billion in debt financing, and that debt lands on EA itself, taking the publisher from around $2.2 billion in the red to something closer to $20 billion. That is the number people in the industry keep circling, because debt has a habit of turning into "efficiencies" a year or two down the line.
When it all closes, PIF ends up with roughly 93% of the company. Silver Lake and Affinity split what is left.
Washington is the last gate
US antitrust clearance under Hart-Scott-Rodino is already done. What is not done is CFIUS, the national security review, and that one has been sitting on the file for months. The original outside date of June 30 came and went, so both sides pushed it back to September 28, 2026. Nobody really expects a flat block at this point, more likely a yes with conditions attached. Senators Blumenthal and Warren asked the Treasury for "searching scrutiny", which is Senate speak for read this one twice.
What changes for your library
Short term, nothing. Battlefield 6 keeps rolling out seasons, FC 27 arrives this autumn with Mbappé on the cover, The Sims 4 carries on eating your weekends.
The interesting part starts after closing. A private EA no longer files quarterly numbers, no longer has to justify a single decision to public shareholders, and no longer lives or dies by an earnings call. Fewer people watching usually means bigger swings, in both directions. Sometimes that means weird passion projects get funded. Sometimes it means a studio disappears on a Tuesday.
So what is your read: is a private EA better or worse for the games we actually get? Drop it in the comments.