Assessed to have "limited impact on competition in the markets where the companies are active"

Image credit: EA

The $55 billion leveraged buyout which will see Saudi Arabia, Silver Lake and Jared Kushner-founded investment firm Affinity Partners become the new owners of EA has been given the thumbs up by the European Commission. The body have ruled that the acquisition's ok as far as the EU's rules on mergers go, and that it doesn't "raise competition concerns".

"The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of sole control of Electronic Arts Inc. of the US by the Public Investment Fund (‘PIF') of Saudi Arabia," the commission announced via a news bulletin on their site dated today, July 23rd.

"The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given its limited impact on competition in the markets where the companies are active," the body wrote. "The notified transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure."

This approval's strictly in terms of potential the deal might have to "significantly impede effective competition in the EU" region specifically. "If they do not, they are approved unconditionally," reads the explanation on the Commission's site as to why they opt to approve or prohibit proposed mergers. "If they do, and no commitments suitable to remove the impediment are proposed by the merging firms, problematic mergers must be prohibited to protect businesses and consumers from higher prices or a more limited choice of goods or services".

Earlier this year, 46 US lawmakers signed a letter calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the $55 billion deal for signs that it could be damaging for workers and anti-competitive to the point of breaking American anti-trust law. So, the buyout seems to not be totally on the home stretch yet, even if it is looking increasingly likely to be waved over the line.

That leaves EA workers facing being majority owned by the Public Investment Fund of a country whose ruling regime have a terrible human rights record which Amnesty International cite as including "arbitrary" detention and execution of people simply expressing their opinions, abuse of migrant workers, and discrimination against women. They're also believed by the CIA to have been responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.