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Bank behind Manchester United and Chelsea deals send 'incredible' PIF message

Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Colin Neville
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A partner at the bank who brokered the sales of Manchester United and Chelsea anticipates more 'impact-type investments' following the PIF's 'incredible success' at Newcastle United.

Colin Neville is a partner at the Raine Group, who acted as facilitators when Sir Jim Ratcliffe paid £1.3bn to buy a 27.7% stake in Manchester United and when Chelsea's owners spent a whopping £4.25bn to purchase the Blues. Newcastle, in contrast, were sold for just £305m three years ago.

Although Newcastle were admittedly in relegation trouble at the time, and required hundreds of millions worth of investment across the board, the valuation of the club has since soared. In fact, Adam Sommerfeld, a managing partner at Certus Capital Partners, who were involved in multiple takeover bids during the Ashley era, previously told ChronicleLive that 'general industry perception' values the Magpies at a figure above £800m.

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PSR rules have slowed the rate of Newcastle's progress, but the PIF's long-term aim remains - not only to be number one but to be the best in class in youth development, women's football, scouting and recruitment, data and insight and coaching and innovation.

"It's not a one-size-fits-all model for the sovereign funds," Neville told the Leaders in Sport conference. "At the end of the day, they have to generate returns for their citizens, but various funds have different agendas.

"Some might want to attract more tourism so they're going to bring Formula 1 races. Some might just want to have a bigger presence globally. But, certainly, in terms of an impact-type investment, sports is at the top of the list.

"If you look at what the PIF did with their investment in Newcastle, there's been incredible success in a very short period of time so I anticipate more of that. We have seen sovereigns finally investing in U.S. leagues and teams. I just know for a fact because we're working on several. I expect more of that to come."