The Saudi-backed Newcastle United takeover was one of the main topics of discussion during a recent edition of NUFC Matters, which was hosted by Steve Wraith and featured Toon journalist Liam Kennedy.
This takeover bid from a consortium consisting of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), PCP Capital Partners and the Reuben brothers was said to have been ‘rejected’ by the Premier League, in a statement that was issued via Newcastle United’s official website in September, though the English top-flight disputed that claim, stating that they would be happy for the takeover to ‘proceed to the next stage should the relevant entities provide all appropriate information,’ indicating that this hadn’t been done.
Back in July, Amanda Staveley of the PCP Capital Partners firm expressed her frustration over the Premier League’s handling of the takeover to The Athletic and indicated that the English top-flight’s wish for “the country, Saudi, to become a director of the football club” played a significant part in their refusal to approve the deal.
Wraith and Kennedy also suggested that this was the main factor in the breakdown of the deal after they claimed that PIF wouldn’t be required to re-take the Premier League’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test if they came back in with another bid to buy the Toon during this recent edition of NUFC Matters.
When asked whether or not PIF would have to re-take the test, Kennedy responded with a simple ‘no’. Wraith then elaborated on why this is the case, saying:
“It’s already passed – that’s the daft thing. It’s passed, the Owners’ and Directors’ Test was passed by everyone, they just wanted the state to say that it was running the club when it clearly wasn’t, it was PIF – it’s as simple as that,” and Kennedy was in agreement with his comments.
Are you surprised by what Wraith and Kennedy said?
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TIF Thoughts on what Wraith and Kennedy had to say about the possibility that PIF would have to re-take the Owners’ and Directors’ Test…
If what Wraith and Kennedy said is to be believed, Wraith’s comments, in particular, would suggest that what Staveley had to say about the delay of this takeover back in July is true.
Furthermore, given that the Premier League claimed that all of the “relevant entities” didn’t “provide all appropriate information” so that this deal could be done, this may also indicate that their wish for the state to become a director held up the deal if the Saudi state is the entity that they were referring to.
So, with all of this in mind, then we feel it is understandable why PIF wouldn’t have to re-take the Owners’ and Directors’ Test if they were part of another takeover bid because it doesn’t seem as though their ability to pass the test has been an issue.