Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund is in talks to buy U.K. Premier League soccer team Newcastle United F.C. for about £340 million ($445 million), according to people familiar with the discussions.
The buyer is the Public Investment Fund, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s key investment tool, together with a group of investors organized by British financier Amanda Staveley, the people said. A final deal could be days or weeks away, the people said. The tentative deal could still break down.
The seller is British businessman Mike Ashley, who bought the team in 2007 for 134 million pounds, and turned into one of the least popular owners in English soccer.
The acquisition would be a major coup for Saudi Arabia as it focuses on sports and entertainment as part of Prince Mohammed’s economic reform plans for the kingdom.
It could also mean a big infusion of capital into Newcastle akin to Abu Dhabi’s 2008 acquisition of Manchester City. Since then the city-state, capital of the United Arab Emirates, has spent over a billion pounds to amass playing talent, renovate the team’s facilities, and turn City into an era-defining team in the English Premier League.
Write to Bradley Hope at bradley.hope@wsj.com, Rory Jones at rory.jones@wsj.com and Joshua Robinson at joshua.robinson@wsj.com
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2020-01-25 11:04:00Z
https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-sovereign-wealth-fund-in-talks-to-buy-u-k-soccer-team-newcastle-united-11579950242
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