Saudis selling Newcastle?

Saudis selling Newcastle?

Newcastle football fans are no strangers to a roller coaster ride, but I suspect a pretty big bump – even by their standards – could soon be on the horizon.

Just over three years since the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) paid more than $300mn to take over the Premier League club, the fund could now be looking to offload that investment.

Worth around $930bn, the PIF is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds on the planet, with six different investment portfolios. However, the group is in the process of significantly reducing its holdings in foreign companies, as it looks to focus on the domestic Saudi market and AI investments.

Will Newcastle be one of the affected deals? My sources tell me that “anything overseas that is making money, or rather is worth more today than it was purchased for, is being looked at.”

Given the remarkable job manager Eddie Howe has done to take Newcastle from a relegation threated club to one in the upper echelons of the Premier League, it is definitely worth a huge amount more than the price paid three years ago. Another $300mn plus has since been invested.

However, since the takeover, the Premier League has signed its next phase of TV rights, from 2025 to 2029, for a whopping $6.8bn. All this has massively upped the club’s value. This is a cake a lot of people would like a slice of.

Recent evidence also shows which the direction the PIF is heading. It just sold its stake in US concert promoter Live Nation, having also reduced holdings in Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce and Paypal. In May this year, the PIF cuts its US equity holdings by 42 percent to $20.6bn.

“Initially we had less than 2 percent of investments internationally, that was with $150bn assets under management. Then it increased from 2 to 30 percent. Now our target is to bring it down to 18 to 20 percent,” PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan said recently.

Saudi Arabia now wants AI to account for 12 percent of GDP by 2030. My sources say there is also an internal push to focus on LIV Golf, boxing and the Saudi pro league.

The PIF currently has an 85 percent stake in the club and there would be no shortage of willing buyers, particularly from the US entertainment sector.

The official line from the PIF is business as usual. But when it comes to the Premier League, business is never as usual.

Mega launches are getting bigger than mega projects

I feel a new phase of the property market bubble is upon us: who can do the most lavish, expensive launch? The Coca-Cola Arena now seems to be the go-to venue, with Bugatti Residences by Binghatti, Aziz Venice and DAMAC Islands all using the place better known for music concerts.

As for the most expensive…take your pick. My guess is the new DAMAC Islands is probably the winner. Bollywood mega stars such as Amitabh Bachchan and Ranveer Singh feature in a new promo video for the project. I once tried to hire Ranveer Singh for an Arabian Business event, and his team wanted around $800,000 just for him to show up. I didn’t dare ask what it cost for him to say hello.

Other stars such as boxing legend Amir Khan and football legend John Terry were also part of it.

The irony is DAMAC Islands is such a unique and cool project, they could have launched it in McDonald’s and it would still sell out.

Taylor Swift to finally perform in the UAE?

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has been the most talked about show for two reasons: the cities she has played in, the cities she hasn’t. By the end of this year, she will have performed 152 shows in 54 cities, grossing over $1bn – and adding an estimated $10bn to national economies because of the associated spending by fans.

But Swift has never performed in the UAE. Yet. My sources say that whilst her promoter AEG will bring the Eras tour to an official end next month, a modified version is on the cards to come to the UAE sometime late 2025.

Now let me blatantly sell you something

If you have read this far, it means you either really like – or really hate – everything you have read so far. I’m not fussy. Whichever camp you are in, it means you have qualified for a mega discount on subscription to the yearly plans on Arabian Business – a massive 50% off. All you have to do is click the link here and use my promo code BROLL50.

I haven’t actually asked my boss for permission to give this discount, but I’m guessing he would have already stopped reading by the time he got to the Taylor Swift bit (so he’ll never know)!

Anil Bhoyrul, Managing Director of Arabian Business

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