EA Shareholders overwhelmingly approved a $55 billion acquisition of the gaming studio by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), with more than 201 million votes supporting the deal. PIF's acquisition of EA removes a major hurdle among the company's shareholders, but the deal still requires regulatory approval from government officials.
The shareholder vote comes months after EA announced it was going private ahead of a $55 billion deal in which it would be acquired by a Saudi-backed consortium. The new group will see PIF, Affinity Partners and Silver Lake share control of EA, with PIF owning a 93.7% stake. PIF is backed by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is known to be an avid gamer. EA's pending acquisition wouldn't be PIF's first deal with a gaming company. That's because PIF currently owns a 96% stake in fighting game maker SNK. Fatal Fury: City of Wolves and The King of Fighters series. PIF currently also holds small investment stakes in other companies, including Nintendo, Take-Two, and Capcom.
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EA shareholders overwhelmingly said 'yes' to the PIF acquisition.
EA's new ownership consortium will be led by PIF, but that did not deter the majority of shareholders from getting the deal done. According to data officially submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 201,459,396 votes were in favor of the merger agreement between EA and the consortium led by PIF, while 1,914,837 votes were against the PIF transaction and 90,311 abstentions. In similar proportions, the advisory compensation proposal had 178,308,365 votes in favor, 24,908,638 against and 254,561 abstentions. EA's pending acquisition has thus removed one of the biggest hurdles toward completion. The vote took place at a special shareholders' meeting hosted by EA on December 22nd. As part of the acquisition, EA will be taken private and current shareholders will receive a dividend of $210 per share, making it the largest leveraged acquisition in history.
This approval reportedly comes at a particularly tumultuous time for the PIF. Reports earlier this fall suggested that PIF has been cash-strapped since participating in the EA acquisition, and as a result the fund has been reluctant to invest as much money in other projects. But despite these issues, PIF said the EA acquisition was a long-term investment that could gradually double in value. PIF had already reduced its stake in Nintendo from 7.5% to 6.3% in November 2024, almost a year before the EA acquisition was made public.
EA's deal may not be completed yet
While shareholder approval for PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners' acquisition of EA has been one major hurdle, other challenges face all parties involved. The deal still needs to be approved by various government agencies, though some concerns have long been raised by U.S. officials. In October 2025, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury stating that the acquisition of EA by a PIF-led consortium could pose a national security risk. Warren and Blumenthal pointed out how unstable EA's financial performance could be and noted that the EA deal could give the Saudi government access to customer data in the U.S. and abroad.
To allay the concerns of fans and shareholders, EA confirmed that if the deal goes through as planned, CEO Andrew Wilson will remain in his current position and the company will still retain full creative control. Only time will tell how the ongoing transition war will play out after Congress returns from its holiday break in 2026.
Source: Bloomberg (via PC Gamer)
