Keith Downie has been speaking to NUFC 360 in an exclusive interview about all things relating to Newcastle United.
One of the topics that the Sky Sports reporter spent some time on was the proposed takeover of Newcastle United by PCP Capital Partners, PIF and the Reuben brothers.
The bid was withdrawn in July after the Premier League held off from making a decision on the takeover, and now the situation is in the hands of lawyers.
However, Downie is unsure that PIF (which makes up 80% of the consortium led by Amanda Staveley) are still interested in buying Newcastle.
It seems as if in Downie’s view, PIF have gone and are not there to do a takeover, even if the Premier League was to approve the bid.
He said: “As it stands – and we need to remember this – the PIF side of the consortium walked away from the deal at the end of July.
“So, it’s not as if they’re sitting there saying, ‘please come back to the table, Premier League’ – they’re not.
“Maybe behind the scenes, they are saying that, but as it stands, they have walked away from the deal.”
Do you think PIF are gone?
No, they are still there
Yes, time to move on they are gone
TIF Thoughts…
Soon after the deal collapsed, Staveley’s husband, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, claimed that all three parties involved in the consortium were still willing to do the takeover, suggesting that PIF were still keen at that point in late July.
They were also involved in a second attempt that didn’t pass, which occurred in early September.
Mike Ashley has since handed the deal to lawyers to force through the takeover, but it begs the question of why he would have done so if PIF, the majority backers, weren’t still interested in buying Newcastle.
Of course, it remains to be seen what happens, but there are quite a few pieces of evidence that suggest that PIF may still interested in buying Newcastle, despite Downie’s claims.