Saudi PIF's $55 billion EA deal gets EU approval under subsidy rules

BRUSSELS, July 31 : Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and a group of investors have gained EU approval for their $55 billion acquisition of video game developer Electronic Arts under the bloc's subsidy rules, a European Commission filing showed on Friday.In a regulatory filing on Thursday, Electronic Arts said it had received all regulatory approvals as of July 30 and that it expects to close the deal on August 4.The deal secured a green light under EU merger rules last week, but the review under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) was seen as the bigger hurdle.The FSR aims to prevent unfair non-EU subsidies granted to companies looking to acquire rivals in the 27-country bloc. Reuters reported exclusively earlier this month that the deal would secure EU approval under the FSR.The d