EU Clears Saudi-Led $55 Billion Acquisition of Electronic Arts in Major Antitrust Milestone

European Union antitrust regulators have formally approved the proposed $55 billion takeover of Electronic Arts by a Saudi-led consortium, clearing a primary regulatory hurdle for what stands to become the largest leveraged buyout in global corporate history.

Following a standard merger review, the European Commission concluded that the acquisition does not pose significant anti-competitive risks within the interactive entertainment market. Regulatory scrutiny focused on the transaction’s potential footprint across console, personal computer, and mobile video game publishing, alongside competitive dynamics in the growing competitive esports sector.

Despite passing antitrust scrutiny, the transaction still requires clearance under the EU’s foreign subsidies framework, designed to ensure state-backed funding does not distort market competition within the bloc. European officials face a July 30 deadline to complete that assessment, with expectations favoring approval. If fully realized, the deal would place over 93 percent of Electronic Arts under the control of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), with remaining equity distributed among private equity entities Silver Lake and Affinity Partners.

Leveraged buyouts of this magnitude typically rely heavily on debt financing secured against the target company’s assets rather than the acquirer’s balance sheet. In this instance, Electronic Arts would assume more than $20 billion in leverage to fund the acquisition, a capital structure that significantly increases the publisher’s long-term debt servicing obligations.

The acquisition continues to face additional regulatory reviews outside Europe, notably in the United States. The transaction remains subject to scrutiny by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency body tasked with evaluating cross-border investments for potential national security risks. Earlier this year, U.S. lawmakers pressed the Federal Trade Commission to subject the transaction to rigorous examination, highlighting broader concerns over foreign sovereign control of major domestic media assets.

The regulatory progress follows overwhelming approval by Electronic Arts shareholders during a December vote, securing internal investor backing for the transition into private ownership.