EA's $55 Billion Saudi-Led Buyout Clears Shareholder Vote as Canadian Union Raises National Security Alarm

Overview

Electronic Arts shareholders voted overwhelmingly in late December 2025 to approve the company’s sale to a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), according to Yahoo Finance. The all-cash deal, valued at $55 billion, would take EA private in what Kotaku describes as one of the largest transactions in gaming history. With regulatory approvals still pending, the deal is on track to close in the first quarter of EA’s fiscal year 2027 — by approximately June 2026 — but opposition is mounting on both sides of the border.

What We Know

The consortium bringing EA private comprises three entities: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, the firm founded by Jared Kushner, as reported by Kotaku. Under the terms of the deal, EA stockholders receive $210 per share in cash, a 25% premium to EA’s unaffected share price, Kotaku reports.

The financing structure places significant new debt on EA’s balance sheet. Wikipedia’s summary of the deal notes that JPMorgan Chase is arranging more than $20 billion in debt financing, which would increase EA’s total debt from approximately $2.2 billion to $20 billion. PIF is contributing roughly $36 billion in equity, while Silver Lake and Affinity Partners account for the remainder, with Affinity holding approximately a 5% stake, per Wikipedia.

At the special stockholders’ meeting in late December 2025, more than 201 million shares were cast in favor of the merger agreement, with approximately 1.9 million against and 90,000 abstentions, Yahoo Finance reported. EA CEO Andrew Wilson has stated that the company’s values will “remain unchanged” under the new ownership structure, per Yahoo Finance.

The transaction still requires approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Wikipedia notes that sources cited by the Financial Times have characterized that approval as expected to pass “easily.” Both parties face reciprocal $1 billion termination fees if either side withdraws, according to Wikipedia.

Canadian Union Opposition

In Canada, the Communications Workers of America Canada (CWA Canada) has urged Ottawa to review the deal under the Investment Canada Act. CWA Canada president Carmel Smyth sent a letter to Canadian Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly on May 5, 2026, as reported by Game Developer.

“We are deeply concerned that a foreign sovereign wealth fund tasked with implementing the Saudi Arabian government’s strategy to ‘become the global hub for gaming and esports’ plans to acquire one of the most successful North American video game publishers, with extensive operations in Canada, reaching hundreds of millions of players globally,” Smyth wrote, as quoted by Game Developer.

Smyth identified three principal national security concerns. The first is the risk of mass surveillance: “Saudi Arabia could utilize its access to Canadians’ personal information for purposes of mass surveillance, censorship, or propaganda,” she wrote, per Game Developer. The second concerns EA’s AI research: “because EA is heavily invested in developing artificial intelligence (AI), the transaction could also result in the transfer of sensitive technology to a foreign state, also an acute national security concern under the ICA,” according to Game Developer. The third focuses on jobs: “Workers in the video game industry have experienced significant layoffs in recent years, and the structure of the proposed acquisition puts the thousands of Canadian EA workers at increased risk. The deal is being financed with US$20 billion in debt; as a result, some analysts suggest layoffs are one of the key ways the company will seek to cut costs in order to service its massive debt,” Smyth wrote, per Game Developer.

EA operates studios in Quebec, Vancouver, Toronto, and Victoria, as noted by Game Developer.

Smyth also raised governance concerns about ownership concentration: “control would effectively be solely in the hands of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the unelected monarch of a country with, at best, a very different approach from Canada to personal autonomy and privacy and at worst a highly troubling record of human rights abuses including surveillance and misuse of information,” according to Game Developer.

U.S. Congressional Scrutiny

Opposition to the deal has not been limited to Canada. Democratic senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts expressed concerns in October 2025 about “foreign influence and national security risks” related to the handling of consumer data, according to Wikipedia.

What We Don’t Know

It remains unclear when or whether CFIUS will formally clear the deal. The agency has not issued a public statement. EA has not responded publicly to CWA Canada’s letter, and Canada’s Ministry of Industry has not confirmed whether a formal review under the Investment Canada Act has been initiated. The deal’s closing date is contingent on regulatory timelines that have not been disclosed.

What happens to EA’s franchises — including Madden, The Sims, Apex Legends, Battlefield, and EA Sports FC — under private ownership backed by a sovereign wealth fund remains an open question for players and developers alike.