Saudi PIF's $55 billion EA deal approved under EU merger rules

Saudi PIF's $55 billion EA deal approved under EU merger rules BRUSSELS, July 23 : A group of investors including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has secured EU antitrust approval for its $55 billion acquisition of video game developer Electronic Arts, the European Commission said on Thursday. Saudi Arabia's $1 trillion wealth fund, Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners and private equity firm Silver Lake announced the deal, the largest leveraged buyout in history, in September last year. The Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer and had examined the deal under its merger rules, said the acquisition would not raise competition concerns, confirming a Reuters story. The EU executive is also scrutinising the deal under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) aimed at preventing unfair non-EU subsidies granted to companies looking to acquire rivals in the 27-country bloc and is seen as a bigger hurdle. PIF is also expected to win EU clearance under EU subsidy rules, people familiar with the matter told Reuters last week. The Commission's decision is due by July 30.