Newcastle United: Club Sold To PCP - Official

[Carl 175]

I imagine Ashley could really use that money just now if his rumoured interest in INTU and DW sports is true

[Monkeys Fist 42129]

3 hours ago, NJS said:

I wonder if the Reubens could increase their stake to 41% meaning PIF were to be minority shareholders - a bit simplistic but I'm sure they could work out the money later - I'm sure other corporate deals have convenient structures. 

If they made an agreement to sell back to PIF, would this pass? 
I’d imagine not, just based on proof of funds etc ( if PIF clearly loaned Reubens funds to increase their stake), but could the PL stop it if the agreement was private? 
 

I’m sure they could, given that they sat on the previous deal for 4 months until it fucked off, but I’d be interested if anyone knew the legalities of the above? 

[Tom 14011]

The Reuben’s don’t need money from anyone, they’re absolutely minted.

[wykikitoon 19980]

Let's face it. This isn't going to change fuck all.

[Monkeys Fist 42129]

9 minutes ago, Tom said:

The Reuben’s don’t need money from anyone, they’re absolutely minted.

But do they really want to spunk it all on a football club? 
Surely the PIF deal reduces their risk? 
 

( I mean the original deal, or any dodgy version of that they can get away with). 

[trooper 940]

The last bit of the statement from PIF on Thursday confirms that its finished.

 

"We would like to say that we truly appreciated your incredible expressions of support and your patience throughout this process. We are sorry it is not to be. We wish the team and everyone associated with it much good luck and success.”

 

It was a lengthy statement with apologies to the fans. I think the deals finished. They along with the fans just want some answers as to why the PL stalled for time. 

[Tom 14011]

Bring me Richard Masters head on a stick.

[ewerk 30371]

24 minutes ago, Monkeys Fist said:

If they made an agreement to sell back to PIF, would this pass? 
I’d imagine not, just based on proof of funds etc ( if PIF clearly loaned Reubens funds to increase their stake), but could the PL stop it if the agreement was private? 
 

I’m sure they could, given that they sat on the previous deal for 4 months until it fucked off, but I’d be interested if anyone knew the legalities of the above? 

Aye, any transfer of ownership would be subject to the same tests. I’d also be surprised if 39% ownership didn’t make them subject to the tests but I’m not certain.

[trooper 940]

Its is & will remain  Sports Direct United for the forseeable future. I doubt Ashley  will ever  get the £300 million he wants for the club. This was his last chance to get that. He'll now be double pissed off. He hates the fans & no doubt hates the PL as much now. I would imagine if someone could scrape together £250 million he'd try & sell it to them. He wouldnt give a toss wether they'd invest in the team, traing ground or SJP. It would be his final "FUCK YOU" to the fans & the PL.

 

[Isegrim 9737]

54 minutes ago, ewerk said:

Aye, any transfer of ownership would be subject to the same tests. I’d also be surprised if 39% ownership didn’t make them subject to the tests but I’m not certain.

I am not very familiar with UK company law and I do agree that the percentage of ownership doesn’t really make a difference to the requirements of the owner’s test.

A different split of shares might make the deal more appealing to outsiders though. Isn’t it mire than 75% to have mire or less absolute powers? Or to look it the other way round you need more than 25% to have meaningful minority shareholding rights. 
My guess would be that if the Reubens were upping their stake to 25% with tge addition of PCPs stake of 10% then the ownership would look less dominated by an absolutistic emperor from the Middle East.

[Kitman 2204]

43 minutes ago, trooper said:

He wouldnt give a toss wether they'd invest in the team, traing ground or SJP. It would be his final "FUCK YOU" to the fans & the PL.

 

He never did give a toss about those things. Same way he never gave a toss about any of the assets/brands he’s acquired over the years and completely run into the ground. He’ll just continue to run the club in the same way he has for the last 12 or so years, he’ll make money one way or another.
 

The PL has stolen the club’s future because now we’re likely to he stuck with Ashley. There’s no point getting upset about it, it’s just the way it is. The football’s fairly irrelevant now, we’re just making up the numbers in a closed shop you can’t break into, I think most people can see that now.

[Dougle 3322]

I think this Reuben brothers/Arena Racing Company story is newsworthy. Seems the BBC don’t. Nope they’re happier running opinion pieces about who Liverpool should buy. Or some shit about Paul fucking Scholes having a bloody party. FFS. After all the negative stories those twats ran whilst the bid was actively pending with the PL.

What is going on here exactly? It really makes you fuckin wonder.

[Kitman 2204]

I think it’s a case of “Geordies know your place”. We’re not newsworthy because under Ashley we’re also-rans and whipping boys for the biggest clubs. And it’ll stay that way for as long as the PL is run like a closed shop for the richest clubs. Next season will be about the usual relegation battle, little else imo

[Howay 12496]

Aye, I expect them to lay it on thick about how much we’re being a deluded set of cunts for not liking Ashley and wanting to target higher that lower mid table. Not that I plan on watching that dog shit. 

[Kitman 2204]

I’ve no intention of watching any PL football. The whole thing stinks.

[RobinRobin 11160]

3 minutes ago, Kitman said:

I’ve no intention of watching any PL football. The whole thing stinks.

Neither have I, but I will probably watch the occasional highlight - can't help myself, unfortunately.  Been like this for most of my nearly 60 years on this god awful planet.

[essembeeofsunderland 811]

The game went to the dogs when referees started giving free kicks to players who were going  down after slight contact.

[asteroidblitz 12]

 

Front page of the KSA's English language newspaper this morning. 

 

Another big financial backer of the £300 million ($390 million) bid for Newcastle United football club has come out in favor of a takeover led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The Reuben brothers, multibillionaire businessmen who want to buy 10 per cent of the club, said on Monday they were “very disappointed” when the bid was withdrawn late last week after months of stalling by the Premier League in England.

“We would welcome any resurrection of talks and progress with the Premier League and are aware that the Reuben brothers remain totally supportive of the deal should there be a way forward,” said a statement from their company, Arena Racing.

The brothers’ renewed support for the deal will raise the pressure on Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, who has remained silent since the takeover offer was withdrawn last week.

PIF made no secret of its disappointment and frustration that the Premier League — which has the duty to approve or reject a takeover of a member club  — has reached no decision since contracts were exchanged on the deal in April that would give the Saudi sovereign wealth fund 80 per cent of the 128-year-old club

Amanda Staveley, the British financier who has been at the heart of the deal and would have bought the remaining 10 per cent, also wants to see the deal revived.

The Reuben brothers, who already run two horseracing courses in the northeast of England, said: “We were planning on creating one of the premier sporting hubs in the UK, undertaking development work that is vital for the region and enjoying valuable synergies with the football club.

“We continue to hope that those exciting plans are not in vain.”

 

 

[Carl 175]

I dont want to get all "tin foil hatty" but the longer this goes on it really does seem like the Qataries have a role in this, I just hope and pray that the Masters and co are not taking bungs, I like to thing of UK sport been clean, but i suppose if they can bribe the governing body of Football anyone is fair game.

 

It does seem like Masters is buying time by not saying anything and then getting spooked by one bloke with his bait in his backpack.

[Alex 34913]

8 hours ago, trooper said:

Its is & will remain  Sports Direct United for the forseeable future. I doubt Ashley  will ever  get the £300 million he wants for the club. This was his last chance to get that. He'll now be double pissed off. He hates the fans & no doubt hates the PL as much now. I would imagine if someone could scrape together £250 million he'd try & sell it to them. He wouldnt give a toss wether they'd invest in the team, traing ground or SJP. It would be his final "FUCK YOU" to the fans & the PL.

 

I don’t think he would be malicious purely because the money’s all he’s arsed about but you’re right in that it’s available to anyone who’ll pay the asking price. Can’t really blame him for that though, especially after what’s happened 

[Alex 34913]

3 hours ago, Carl said:

I dont want to get all "tin foil hatty" but the longer this goes on it really does seem like the Qataries have a role in this, I just hope and pray that the Masters and co are not taking bungs, I like to thing of UK sport been clean, but i suppose if they can bribe the governing body of Football anyone is fair game.

 

It does seem like Masters is buying time by not saying anything and then getting spooked by one bloke with his bait in his backpack.

Not sure why you think UK sport is clean, mate. It’s all about money. I don’t know if cricket is your cup of tea but there’s a film called ‘Death of a Gentleman’ demonstrated that Giles Clarke in his role as chairman of the ECB simply sought to generate as much income as possible at almost any cost in regards to not caring about the damage to grass roots cricket, the long term future of test match cricket or whatever. Lots of dodgy deals behind closed doors in places like Dubai that saw England, Australia and India keeping most of the spoils to themselves and fuck everyone else. Given the huge sums of money associated with the PL tv rights it’s difficult to imagine it being clean behind the scenes. The influence of the Qataris within the game got them a World Cup ffs. Something unimaginable not long ago. Then they were allowed to move the goalposts after the bid and say the tournament is now going to be held bang in the middle of the season. There’s no way that was all done without greasing a lot of palms. I can understand the PL wanting to protect their revenue but what clearly stinks in all this is that they simply refused to apply their own ownership test. It’s not much of a leap to imagine Qatar’s hand in this given their relationship with the Saudis. 

Edited August 4, 2020 by Alex

[ewerk 30371]

8 hours ago, Isegrim said:

I am not very familiar with UK company law and I do agree that the percentage of ownership doesn’t really make a difference to the requirements of the owner’s test.

A different split of shares might make the deal more appealing to outsiders though. Isn’t it mire than 75% to have mire or less absolute powers? Or to look it the other way round you need more than 25% to have meaningful minority shareholding rights. 
My guess would be that if the Reubens were upping their stake to 25% with tge addition of PCPs stake of 10% then the ownership would look less dominated by an absolutistic emperor from the Middle East.

This shouldn't be about appearances. It should be about the very limited requirements as set out in the owners and directors test that was agreed by all 20 clubs, the PL have no power to develop common law.

As long as the Saudis are involved they will be subject to the test no matter what way you fudge the numbers. The test applies to anyone named as a director, thought to be a shadow director or anyone with 'control of the club'. There's no way the Saudis aren't going to be the major partner here and no way they're not going to want one of their own on the board.

Edited August 4, 2020 by ewerk

[Alex 34913]

14 minutes ago, ewerk said:

This shouldn't be about appearances. It should be about the very limited requirements as set out in the owners and directors test that was agreed by all 20 clubs, the PL have no power to develop common law.

As long as the Saudis are involved they will be subject to the test no matter what way you fudge the numbers. The test applies to anyone named as a director, thought to be a shadow director or anyone with 'control of the club'. There's no way the Saudis aren't going to be the major partner here and no way they're not going to want one of their own on the board.

I wonder then (not that I’m really holding out any hope) if the idea is that the PL could somehow be compelled to either outline exactly what they require in order for the Saudis to pass the test (whilst only applying the test itself) or outlining why they would fail (ditto). Although the Saudis publicly walking away would appear to get the league off the hook. 

[ewerk 30371]

2 minutes ago, Alex said:

I wonder then (not that I’m really holding out any hope) if the idea is that the PL could somehow be compelled to either outline exactly what they require in order for the Saudis to pass the test (whilst only applying the test itself) or outlining why they would fail (ditto). Although the Saudis publicly walking away would appear to get the league off the hook. 

A case could certainly be made that the PL's refusal to reach a decision either way was tantamount to rejection seeing as the takeover couldn't be completed. 

I still don't believe that anyone has totally walked away from this deal. I think they expected a massive outcry at the news that the deal had fallen through and the PL to come under massive pressure but that hasn't happened. Outside of Newcastle most people have shrugged their shoulders and moved on. If Staveley thinks she has reason to go after them legally then she'll do so but these reports of her being in tears etc. were just nonsense for public consumption.

[Alex 34913]

I wonder if it was to try and pressure the government into helping, especially if they weren’t doing much previously (as per that recent article). Not that I’d be relying on this government