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Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and the Reuben brothers are strengthening their grip on Newcastle United football club by buying up the minority shareholding held by British dealmaker Amanda Staveley.
Newcastle said on Friday that the Gulf state’s Public Investment Fund and the British businessmen’s RB Sports & Media would buy the shares held by Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners.
PIF said the deal was “part of the long-term plan to develop the club and make it a consistently credible competitor in domestic and European competitions”, and leaves it with about 85 per cent of the club. The Reubens will hold the remaining 15 per cent stake.
Staveley’s departure is an important moment for the Premier League club. Although PIF led the £305mn takeover of Newcastle in October 2021, she had played an important role in facilitating the acquisition from British retail magnate Mike Ashley, and emerged as the face of the ownership group. Its day-to-day running now rests with Darren Eales, who became chief executive in July 2022.
Staveley and her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi featured in an Amazon series about Newcastle, appearing alongside PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. Her PCP vehicle had owned roughly 6 per cent of the club.
A person close to Staveley said she was likely to remain involved in football.
Since the start of the year, Staveley has been involved in a costly legal dispute with Greek shipping magnate Victor Restis. In March, she faced a bill of £3.5mn after losing a UK court case.
Al-Rumayyan, who chairs Newcastle, wished the departing shareholders well as they “move on to focus on their other business interests”. The ownership group, he said, would “continue to build on these foundations for long-term, sustainable success for the team”.
While PIF has invested billions of dollars in sports businesses around the world, from golf to motor racing, Newcastle is so far the fund’s only asset in European football.
In PIF, Newcastle has a majority owner with $925bn in assets under management. But clubs are operating in a stricter regulatory environment than when Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 or when Sheikh Mansour, a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, acquired Manchester City in 2008. Clubs are limited to £105mn of losses over three seasons, with exceptions for investment in infrastructure and other areas.
Following PIF’s acquisition of Newcastle, Premier League owners voted to tighten rules on sponsorship deals with related parties, a move designed to stop PIF-backed companies from funnelling money into the club. However, Newcastle has signed sponsorships with its Sela events organiser and Noon online retailer, and flown to Saudi Arabia for training camps, boosting the club’s finances.
On the pitch, Newcastle enjoyed quick success after the takeover, and qualified for the Uefa Champions League at the end of the 2022-23 season. Its revenue increased nearly 40 per cent to £250mn that season.
“We are grateful to have played our part in setting up the club for even more future success,” Staveley said. “We will remain fans for life.”
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