Shareholders signed off on the Public Investment Fund-led takeover of US gaming giant Electronic Arts on Monday, a move that pundits widely saw coming, given the lucrative premium at USD 210 a share. The USD 55 bn transaction — the largest take-private buyout in history — leaves the boardroom to face a high-stakes review by US regulators, a test case for the limits of Saudi capital in US tech.

Trump’s son-in-law could smooth things over

The deal structure sees the PIF taking a 93.4% controlling interest while Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners hold the remainder. The presence of US minority partners (particularly Kushner) may be the necessary political capital to get the deal across the line, especially with data privacy for 700 mn users at play.

REMEMBER- Saudi is tight with Trump’s US: We had top level visits and investment conferences this year, with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, President Trump, and high-level delegations of senior government officials and business titans meeting in both Riyadh and Washington. The rapport could help smooth things over when it’s time for the US Committee on Foreign Investment to make its decision on whether to allow or block the deal.

What’s in it for the PIF?

Gaming and esports are a major component of the Kingdom’s diversification agenda. Ampere Analysis ’s Piers Harding-Rolls says the acquisition will accelerate the establishment of a major EA development hub within Saudi Arabia, effectively importing AAA game development capacity faster than organic growth ever could. This should be welcome news for game makers in the PIF’s portfolio, including Savvy Games and its subsidiary Scopely.

The debt component

The buyout loads nearly USD 20 bn in debt onto EA’s balance sheet, a leverage will likely force a “financialization” of the creative giant, Harding-Rolls notes. The immediate priority will shift to aggressive cash flow generation to service the loans

What this means: Expect doubling down on high-margin, recurring-revenue engines like EA Sports FC (Ultimate Team) and Apex Legends, while “rationalizing” high-cost California overhead and killing off speculative, non-core titles.

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