Amanda Staveley insists ‘we will not give up’ on Newcastle takeover despite Saudi investors pulling plug on £300m deal
Amanda Staveley has given Newcastle United fans a sliver of hope that the club’s £300million takeover may not be completely dead and buried, despite the collapse of the Saudi-backed bid.
Staveley, who led the consortium behind the takeover, has told talkSPORT she is ‘absolutely heartbroken’ after the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) pulled the plug on their offer to buy the club from Mike Ashley on Thursday.
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News regarding the deal first emerged back in January but the Premier League had still not given it their seal of approval, with a number of factors putting the purchase in doubt.
And in a point statement from PIF and Staveley’s company PCP Capital Partners on Thursday, it was confirmed the offer had been withdrawn due to the time it has taken and the current ‘global uncertainty’ surrounding the COVID-19 crisis.
“We feel great compassion for the Newcastle United fans with whom we shared a great commitment to help,” the statement read.
“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.”
It’s devastating news for supporters, who were all hoping the time had finally come for Ashley to sell, but at the very least they now know that the unpopular owner is prepared to hand over the club, having given this deal the OK.
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And there is some hope for stricken Magpies supporters, with Staveley now insisting she will not walk away from her attempts to usher in a new era at St James’ Park.
talkSPORT host Jim White spoke to the consortium leader shortly after Thursday’s announcement, and he latest told Drivetime: “I’ve just got off the phone with a tearful Amanda Staveley who said to me: ‘I am absolutely heartbroken for the supporters of Newcastle, for club, and the community.’
“All the emotion of waiting and waiting, and the work she’s done on this bid over the last two years, came out to me in that phone call.
“The bid was real, it’s been there all the time, Ashley agreed to it, and they told me today they were going to allocate £250million more for the club, the academy and the community, but now it’s all gone.
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“Having said that, and I don’t know how genuine this is, but as Amanda Staveley said ‘goodbye’ to me, she added: ‘Get it out there, though, we will not give up. We will not give up’.
“So maybe they will be back, but it all depends on the Saudi’s because 80 per cent of the £300m cash bid was theirs, with ten per cent from Staveley’s PCP and the other ten per cent coming from the Reuben brothers.
“Everybody will have their take on this, but all I can tell you is this; if you’d heard the tone of Amanda Staveley’s voice moments ago you would realise how absolutely shattered she is.
Newcastle takeover timeline
- January 25, 2020: Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman linked with stunning £340m bid to buy Newcastle
- January 27, 2020: Mike Ashley is ‘furious’ and ‘demanding answers’ after details of Saudi takeover bid are leaked
- April 14, 2020: Documents show Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Group talks with Mike Ashley
- April 22, 2020: Sports network beIN Sports and human rights campaigners Amnesty International write to the Premier League warning them over a possible Saudi takeover
- April 28, 2020: Reports claim Newcastle takeover could be completed in two weeks
- April 30, 2020: Mauricio Pochettino linked with Newcastle job as players such as Kylian Mbappe become transfer targets
- May 13, 2020: Fiancee of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi urges fans to reject Saudi owners in passionate letter
- May 25, 2020: Premier League have still not examined £300m takeover bid
- May 26, 2020: Reports claim Saudi takeover is in ‘serious doubt’ over ‘breach of international piracy laws’
- June 6, 2020: Amanda Staveley puts Newcastle takeover on hold due to £1.6bn court case with Barclays
- June 17, 2020: American businessman Henry Mauriss launches rival £350m bid to buy Newcastle
- June 22, 2020: Rumours suggest deal could be approved by the Premier League inside a week
- June 29, 2020: Steve Bruce calls for ‘clarity’ on Newcastle takeover from Premier League
- June 30, 2020: Premier League CEO Richard Masters says decision over £300m Saudi bid will be made ‘shortly’
- July 15, 2020: Proposed deal takes fresh twist as Saudi Arabia bans Middle East’s Premier League broadcaster beIN Sports
- July 30, 2020: Saudi-backed consortium withdraw £300m bid to buy Newcastle from Mike Ashley
“As she said, she has been working on this with the Saudis and the Reuben brothers for two years, two years they’ve been working flat-out on it and now it’s come to this, that they have withdrawn.
“What Newcastle would have got out of it, what the club would have got out of it, what the fans would have got out of it in terms of what was about to happen to their club was something else, but now for the time being at least we’ll never know.
“But I emphasis ‘for the time being’, because as Amanda says, they will not give up and they might be back.”
July 30, 2020 at 09:38PM Premier League Football Fixtures and Results - talkSPORT https://talksport.com
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