Newcastle United’s owners are not finished yet
After the PIF’s ‘amazing success’ at Newcastle United, a bank partner who mediated the transactions of Manchester United and Chelsea expects additional ‘impact-type investments’.
When Sir Jim Ratcliffe paid £1.3 billion to acquire a 27.7% share in Manchester United and when Chelsea’s owners paid an incredible £4.25 billion to acquire the Blues, Colin Neville, a partner at the Raine Group, served as a facilitator. On the other hand, three years ago, Newcastle was sold for a mere £305 million.
Even though Newcastle was reportedly in danger of relegation at the time and needed hundreds of millions of dollars in total investment, the club’s value has subsequently skyrocketed. Adam Sommerfeld, a managing partner at Certus Capital Partners, who participated in several acquisition attempts during the Ashley era, actually told ChronicleLive that the Magpies are valued at more than £800 million according to “general industry perception.”
Although PSR regulations have hampered Newcastle’s progress, the PIF’s long-term goal is still to be the top in the league in women’s football, youth development, scouting and recruitment, analytics and analysis, coaching, and innovation.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all model for the sovereign funds,” Neville told the Leaders in Sport conference. “At the end of the day, they have to generate returns for their citizens, but various funds have different agendas. “Some might want to attract more tourism so they’re going to bring Formula 1 races. Some might just want to have a bigger presence globally. But, certainly, in terms of an impact-type investment, sports is at the top of the list.
“If you look at what the PIF did with their investment in Newcastle, there’s been incredible success in a very short period of time so I anticipate more of that. We have seen sovereigns finally investing in U.S. leagues and teams. I just know for a fact because we’re working on several. I expect more of that to come.”
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