An investor group including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund requested European Union subsidy approval for its $55 billion acquisition of video game developer Electronic Arts. According to a European Commission filing, the regulatory body set a July 30 deadline for its preliminary decision. The transaction marks a high-stakes test of the bloc's recent regulatory frameworks targeting non-EU capital entering the Western entertainment and technology sectors.
The European Commission is evaluating the transaction under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation. The framework specifically aims to prevent unfair, non-EU state-backed subsidies from distorting competition when foreign entities acquire corporate rivals within the 27-country trading bloc or participate in major public tenders. The probe forces the sovereign wealth fund and its partners to clear stringent anti-distortion benchmarks before completing the acquisition.
The European competition enforcer possesses two distinct pathways following its initial evaluation. It can choose to clear the multi-billion-dollar deal unconditionally after the preliminary review, or it can open a full-scale, long-term investigation if it determines the state funding raises serious competitive concerns.
