The proposed sale of Electronic Arts to an investor consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has cleared a major hurdle in the closing process. The European Commission announced today, July 23, that it has approved the merger, saying the deal does not raise competition concerns. This was the expected result, and now it’s official. The $55 billion deal, which is structured as a leveraged buyout (LBO), comes with billions in debt for EA.