EA shareholders have overwhelmingly approved the $55 billion purchase of the game studio by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), with over 201 million votes supporting the deal. While PIF's acquisition of EA has cleared a major hurdle for the company's shareholders, the deal is still subject to regulatory approval by government officials.
The shareholder vote came months after EA announced it would go private ahead of the $55 billion deal to be acquired by the Saudi-backed consortium. The new group will see control of EA split between PIF, Affinity Partners and Silver Lake, with PIF owning a majority stake of 93.7%. The PIF is backed by Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, who is known to be an avid gambler. EA's pending buyout wouldn't be the first time PIF has dealt with gaming companies, as it currently holds a 96% majority stake in SNK, the makers of fighting games that Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves and The King of Fighters series. PIF also currently has small investment stakes in other companies, including Nintendo, Take-Two and Capcom.
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EA's shareholders overwhelmingly say “Yes” to PIF's Buyout
Although EA's new ownership consortium will be led by PIF, that did not deter the vast majority of shareholders from approving the deal. According to an official filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), 201,459,396 votes were in favor of the merger agreement between EA and the PIF-led consortium, with 1,914,837 votes cast against PIF's deal and 90,311 abstentions. By a similar margin, an advisory replacement proposal received 178,308,365 votes in favor, with 24,908,638 voting against and 254,561 abstentions. Ergo, EA's ongoing acquisition has cleared one of the biggest hurdles to completion. The vote took place during a special shareholder meeting organized by EA on December 22. As part of the buyout process, EA will go private and current shareholders will be paid $210 per share, making it the largest leveraged buyout in history.
The approval comes amid a reportedly tumultuous time for PIF in particular. Earlier in the fall, reports indicated that PIF was low on funds following its participation in the EA buyout, and the fund was looking to not invest as much money in other projects as a result. However, despite some of these issues, PIF stated that the acquisition of EA was a long-term investment that could gradually double in value. PIF had already reduced its investment stake in Nintendo, from 7.5% to 6.3%, in November 2024, almost a year before the EA acquisition was announced.
EA's deal may not be done yet
While shareholder approval of EA's acquisition of PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners was a major hurdle cleared, another challenge looms on the horizon for all parties involved. The deal still needs to be approved by various government entities, although some concerns have long been raised by US officials. In October 2025, US Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote a letter to the US Treasury Department, stating that EA's buyout of the PIF-led consortium could be a national security risk. Warren and Blumenthal pointed out how volatile EA's financial performance can be, citing that the EA deal could give the Saudi government access to customer data in the US and abroad.
In an effort to ease concerns from fans and shareholders, EA confirmed that CEO Andrew Wilson would remain in his current post if the deal went through as planned, and that the company would still retain full creative control. Only time will tell how the ongoing acquisition battle will play out when Congress returns from recess in 2026.
Sources: Bloomberg (via PC Gamer)
