Newcastle United’s owners PIF secure ‘largest ever’ financial deal

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Newcastle United owners PIF have secured a £14billion seven-year senior unsecured term loan, which has been described as the “largest self-arranged term loan ever raised for general corporate purpose”.

Fahad AlSaif, Head of Global Capital Finance Division at PIF, said: “This new facility is a strong endorsement of PIF’s medium-term capital raising strategy.

“It is a significant achievement for PIF, raising a record-sized term facility in the longest tenor ever for a loan of its size that is subscribed to by an unprecedentedly diversified number of lenders. PIF will continue to explore a variety of debt funding sources as it delivers on its strategic objectives.”

Although this won’t directly impact anything at Newcastle, it’s a sign once again of the owners’ ambition and business nous as they look to turn the Magpies into a force in the Premier League and Europe.

This follows PIF investing a further £70.4million of equity into the football club, taking their total investment up to £450m to date.

In a statement released by Newcastle, “the capital injection follows a wide range of investments in the club”, including investment in the playing squad, improvements to St James’ Park, the extension of the training ground, plus the recruitment of a number of senior executives to build out the commercial department.

United added that “further investment is expected which reflects the ownership group’s long-term commitments for Newcastle United”.

Chief executive Darren Eales explained: “We are at the beginning of a long-term plan that aims to build a club that can compete consistently at the highest levels of English and European football.

“We need to develop the whole business, as well as the playing squad. And we need to do so while adhering to the Financial Fair Play rules. This additional investment further enables us to continue implementing the business plan.”