Newcastle United and Chelsea's part-owners have invested £747m in a luxury hotel group as the links between the respective boardrooms are strengthened further away from the game.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) have teamed up with Cain International to support the Aman Group's 'global expansion of ultra-luxury hotels and branded residences'. The PIF, of course, own an 80% majority stake in Newcastle while Jonathan Goldstein, the CEO of Cain International, is one of Chelsea's co-owners. Todd Boehly, the Chelsea chairman, also sits on the Cain board.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Newcastle's non-executive chairman, is the governor of the PIF and his deputy, Turqi Alnowaiser, said this $900m (£747m) investment was 'in line with the PIF's strategy to invest in promising sectors to achieve sustainable, attractive returns'. The Aman Group has 34 hotels in 20 countries and another nine properties in development, including in Saudi.
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Although this deal obviously has nothing to do with football, it is another reminder of the growing relationship between Newcastle's owners and their counterparts at Chelsea since the Blues' own takeover was completed back in May. Amanda Staveley already knows Boehly well and the pair appeared on stage together during a talk at the 2019 MENA Summit in Abu Dhabi.
Boehly has since said that the big six will become 'the big seven with the Saudi deal for Newcastle' and Chelsea's new owners have clearly not been scared by that prospect. In fact, Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi were even spotted speaking to Behdad Eghbali, the co-controlling owner of Chelsea, in the directors' box at Stamford Bridge after being invited to the Blues' fiery derby against Spurs on Sunday.
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