Newcastle Takeover: A consortium back by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has taken over the ownership of the English Premier League club - Newcastle United. PIF is chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
PIF, along with PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media (the “Investment Group”) has completed the takeover of the club, Newcastle United on 7 October 2021. The club made an announcement in a statement on their official website.
"His Excellency Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF, will serve as Non-Executive Chairman of Newcastle United. Amanda Staveley, chief executive of PCP Capital Partners, will have one seat on the board," read the statement. Yasir Al-Rumayyan is not only the Governor of PIF but also the chairman of Aramco, the biggest oil company in the world.
"We are extremely proud to become the new owners of Newcastle United, one of the most famous clubs in English football. We thank the Newcastle fans for their tremendously loyal support over the years and we are excited to work together with them," said Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
Amanda Staveley, Chief Executive Officer of PCP Capital Partners, said: "This is a long-term investment. We are excited about the future prospects for Newcastle United."
Club fans got excited after the announcement
Broadcast Trouble?
BeIN, a Qatar-based media house that has the right of broadcasting Premier League matches in Middle-East was banned in Saudi, four years ago. Their presence was causing a major hindrance in the completion of the PFI takeover of Newcastle United.
Now that Saudi Arabia owns a team in EPL, they want the Premier League to be broadcasted in KSA. "BeIN has been informed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) that moves have been made to reverse the ban after four and a half years," a beIN Sports source told CNN.