“A Saudi Arabian takeover of Newcastle United is close to being agreed.
Approval from the Premier League could possibly come in the next 24 hours after a consortium proved the Saudi state would not have control of the club.
Instead the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is set to provide 80% of funds for the £300m deal, will be seen as separate to the state and therefore allow the takeover to pass the Premier League owners' and directors' test.”
“The Public Investment Fund is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of at least $500 billion. It was created in 1971 for the purpose of investing funds on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia.
It has been characterized as among the least transparent sovereign wealth funds in the world. In 2016, the Wall Street Journal noted that none of the fund's investments were named.”
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