Liam Kennedy has been speaking on the latest edition of #NUFC Matters about all things relating to Newcastle United.
One of the topics that he spent some time on was the proposed takeover of the Toon by PCP Capital Partners, PIF, and the Reuben brothers, which was withdrawn in July 2020.
The deal for Mike Ashley to sell Newcastle was agreed in April 2020, and after being told there were “no red flags” throughout the process, the anticipated approval never arrived, and the consortium decided to pull out.
Since then, a legal challenge has been launched against the Premier League over the failed takeover, and if the club are successful, the consortium will bid again.
However, Kennedy slammed the Premier League for the way they initially handled the takeover.
He said: (18:52) “Delay, delay, delay was the tactic in this takeover.
(19:20) “The Premier League tried their very hardest to make sure that this Newcastle United deal was pushed right to the end until the deal actually ran out.
“They tried everything, delay tactics in the process, and it stinks, it absolutely stinks. They did not want to make a decision on this takeover.
“Listen, anybody who tells you otherwise. It’s hot air. It genuinely is hot air because the Premier League were obstructive throughout this process.”
Do you think the Premier League obstructed the takeover?
Yes, they played a part in stopping it
No, the consortium just failed to pass the O & D test
TIF Thoughts on Kennedy’s claims…
After the deal collapsed, Amanda Staveley claimed that the Premier League made everything difficult, so Kennedy’s claims are backed up by claims from people involved in the takeover.
Certainly, it seems odd that the consortium were told that there were no problems, only for nothing to happen.
The Premier League have revealed why the deal stalled, as they wanted more evidence to indicate that PIF and the Saudi state were separate, but evidence was provided, so what more did they want?
This is what this arbitration case will settle and if PIF and the Saudi state are proved to be separate, this deal can progress, but if not, then it is stuck again.
These are incendiary claims from Kennedy, but we do believe that they could have some truth to them.
In other news: ‘Phwoar’, ‘Wow’ – Many Newcastle fans react as financial report emerges