Overview
- Labor Caucus co-chairs Steven Horsford, Debbie Dingell, Mark Pocan, and Donald Norcross led 46 Democrats in a January 22 letter urging FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson to scrutinize labor-market harms under the agency’s 2023 Merger Guidelines.
- The CWA-backed United Video Games union filed its own letter to the FTC and launched a public petition calling on regulators to protect jobs and preserve creative freedom.
- The proposed deal is a $55 billion take-private led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund with Silver Lake and Affinity, includes roughly $20 billion in debt, and would leave PIF with a controlling stake reported at over 93 percent.
- Lawmakers warn the financing and cross-ownership links could drive layoffs, offshoring, restructuring, studio closures, wage suppression, and reduced worker mobility, citing ties such as Silver Lake’s WME and TKO and PIF’s LIV Golf.
- EA shareholders approved the transaction in late December; the outcome now hinges on regulatory review, with senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren also flagging national-security and human-rights concerns tied to PIF ownership.