Saudi PIF's $55 Billion EA Acquisition: Full Timeline and EU Regulatory Status
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is acquiring Electronic Arts for $55 billion in cash ($210/share) — the largest leveraged buyout in history. EA shareholders approved the sale on December 22, 2025.
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A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is acquiring Electronic Arts for $55 billion in cash ($210/share) — the largest leveraged buyout in history.
EA shareholders approved the sale on December 22, 2025. The consortium also includes Silver Lake and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, with PIF expected to own close to 93% of the company.
Search & fact-check with cited sources for What are the key details, regulatory status, and timeline of the Saudi PIF-led consortium's $55 bThe $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts by a Saudi PIF-led consortium is the largest leveraged buyout in history.
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A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is in the final stages of acquiring Electronic Arts for $55 billion — the largest leveraged buyout in history. With EU antitrust approval secured and a final subsidy review expected to clear by July 30, 2026, the deal is positioned to close in early fiscal 2027 . Here is every key detail, regulatory milestone, and timeline you need to know.
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What is the short answer to "Saudi PIF's $55 Billion EA Acquisition: Full Timeline and EU Regulatory Status"?
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is acquiring Electronic Arts for $55 billion in cash ($210/share) — the largest leveraged buyout in history.
What are the key points to validate first?
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is acquiring Electronic Arts for $55 billion in cash ($210/share) — the largest leveraged buyout in history. EA shareholders approved the sale on December 22, 2025. The consortium also includes Silver Lake and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, with PIF expected to own close to 93% of the company.
Saudi PIF's $55 Billion EA Acquisition: Full Timeline and EU Regulatory Status
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is acquiring Electronic Arts for $55 billion in cash ($210/share) — the largest leveraged buyout in history. EA shareholders approved the sale on December 22, 2025.
Published byEdited with DeepSeek-V4-FlashImages generated with GPT Image 1.5
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is acquiring Electronic Arts for $55 billion in cash ($210/share) — the largest leveraged buyout in history.
EA shareholders approved the sale on December 22, 2025. The consortium also includes Silver Lake and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, with PIF expected to own close to 93% of the company.
Search & fact-check with cited sources for What are the key details, regulatory status, and timeline of the Saudi PIF-led consortium's $55 bThe $55 billion acquisition of Electronic Arts by a Saudi PIF-led consortium is the largest leveraged buyout in history.
AI Prompt
Create a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: Search & fact-check with cited sources for What are the key details, regulatory status, and timeline of the Saudi PIF-led consortium's $55 b. Article summary: Here is a comprehensive, source-backed summary of the Saudi PIF-led consortium’s acquisition of Electronic Arts, based on the latest available information as of July 24, 2026.. Topic tags: general, government, news, general web, user generated. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, charts with fake numbers, clickbait thumb
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A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is in the final stages of acquiring Electronic Arts for $55 billion — the largest leveraged buyout in history. With EU antitrust approval secured and a final subsidy review expected to clear by July 30, 2026, the deal is positioned to close in early fiscal 2027 . Here is every key detail, regulatory milestone, and timeline you need to know.
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Continue your research
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What is the short answer to "Saudi PIF's $55 Billion EA Acquisition: Full Timeline and EU Regulatory Status"?
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is acquiring Electronic Arts for $55 billion in cash ($210/share) — the largest leveraged buyout in history.
What are the key points to validate first?
A consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is acquiring Electronic Arts for $55 billion in cash ($210/share) — the largest leveraged buyout in history. EA shareholders approved the sale on December 22, 2025. The consortium also includes Silver Lake and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, with PIF expected to own close to 93% of the company.
The acquisition was announced on September 29, 2025, when a consortium comprising Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF, with approximately $1 trillion in assets under management), private equity firm Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners announced a leveraged buyout to take EA private .
Price: $210 per share in cash, representing a 25% premium to EA's market value at announcement .
Total value: Approximately $55 billion enterprise value .
Ownership structure: PIF is expected to own "almost all" of EA after the buyout. A Brazilian regulatory filing reported that PIF would hold roughly 93.4% of the company, with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners as minority co-investors . EA itself stated the deal is "anticipated to conclude in Q1 FY27" .
Shareholder and US Regulatory Approvals
Shareholder approval: EA shareholders voted to approve the $210-per-share sale on December 22, 2025, with the company's board having already recommended the deal .
EU Antitrust (Merger) Approval — Granted July 23, 2026
On July 23, 2026, the European Commission unconditionally cleared the deal under the EU Merger Regulation . The Commission concluded that the acquisition "would not raise competition concerns" since it primarily involves video game content production and distribution .
The preliminary review deadline for the merger clearance had been set to July 22, 2026 . The Commission issued its clearance one day later.
EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) Review — Decision Pending (Deadline July 30)
On June 24, 2026, the consortium filed for approval under the EU's Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which targets potentially distortive subsidies from non-EU governments . The European Commission set a provisional deadline of July 30, 2026 to decide on the subsidy component .
On July 17, 2026, Reuters reported that the PIF-led group was "set to secure" EU approval under the FSR rules, with clearance expected after the preliminary review ends on July 30 .
Status as of July 24, 2026: The FSR decision has not yet been formally announced. The July 30 deadline is still active.
Anticipated Closing Timeline
The transaction timeline as currently understood:
Milestone
Date
Deal announced
September 29, 2025
Shareholder vote approved
December 22, 2025
EU merger (antitrust) clearance
July 23, 2026
FSR review deadline
July 30, 2026
Possible closing period
Expected to commence shortly after FSR deadline, with sources indicating clearance is likely
The consortium is expected to proceed with closing immediately after the FSR process concludes on or around July 30, assuming the anticipated clearance materializes. No further major regulatory hurdles have been publicly identified in other jurisdictions.
The acquisition was announced on September 29, 2025, when a consortium comprising Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF, with approximately $1 trillion in assets under management), private equity firm Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners announced a leveraged buyout to take EA private .
Price: $210 per share in cash, representing a 25% premium to EA's market value at announcement .
Total value: Approximately $55 billion enterprise value .
Ownership structure: PIF is expected to own "almost all" of EA after the buyout. A Brazilian regulatory filing reported that PIF would hold roughly 93.4% of the company, with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners as minority co-investors . EA itself stated the deal is "anticipated to conclude in Q1 FY27" .
Shareholder and US Regulatory Approvals
Shareholder approval: EA shareholders voted to approve the $210-per-share sale on December 22, 2025, with the company's board having already recommended the deal .
EU Antitrust (Merger) Approval — Granted July 23, 2026
On July 23, 2026, the European Commission unconditionally cleared the deal under the EU Merger Regulation . The Commission concluded that the acquisition "would not raise competition concerns" since it primarily involves video game content production and distribution .
The preliminary review deadline for the merger clearance had been set to July 22, 2026 . The Commission issued its clearance one day later.
EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) Review — Decision Pending (Deadline July 30)
On June 24, 2026, the consortium filed for approval under the EU's Foreign Subsidies Regulation, which targets potentially distortive subsidies from non-EU governments . The European Commission set a provisional deadline of July 30, 2026 to decide on the subsidy component .
On July 17, 2026, Reuters reported that the PIF-led group was "set to secure" EU approval under the FSR rules, with clearance expected after the preliminary review ends on July 30 .
Status as of July 24, 2026: The FSR decision has not yet been formally announced. The July 30 deadline is still active.
Anticipated Closing Timeline
The transaction timeline as currently understood:
Milestone
Date
Deal announced
September 29, 2025
Shareholder vote approved
December 22, 2025
EU merger (antitrust) clearance
July 23, 2026
FSR review deadline
July 30, 2026
Possible closing period
Expected to commence shortly after FSR deadline, with sources indicating clearance is likely
The consortium is expected to proceed with closing immediately after the FSR process concludes on or around July 30, assuming the anticipated clearance materializes. No further major regulatory hurdles have been publicly identified in other jurisdictions.
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