Saudi-led consortium completes Newcastle United takeover

The Public Investment Fund, a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, led an investment consortium that completed the purchase of Newcastle United in the English Premier League.

According to the Financial Times, the transaction was worth £305 million ($415 million/€360 million). It marks the end of UK retail tycoon Mike Ashley's turbulent 14-year ownership of the club.

PIF, PCP Capital Partners, and RB Sports & Media make up the majority of the new ownership group. Amanda Staveley, a British financier and one of the deal's key architects, runs PCP Capital Partners. The Reuben brothers are British businessmen who own RB Sports & Media.

The Premier League approved the takeover after the new owners assured the league that the Saudi Arabian state would not have a direct role in running Newcastle.

The new owners backed out of an earlier attempt to buy the club in July of last year. The Saudi state was identified as a 'club director' under the terms of that agreement, and thus subject to the league's owners' and directors' test.

The Premier League said: “The legal disputes concerned which entities would own and/or have the ability to control the club following the takeover. All parties have agreed the settlement is necessary to end the long uncertainty for fans over the club’s ownership. The Premier League has now received legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle United Football Club.”




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