Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, who own 80 per cent of Newcastle United, look set to add another high-profile addition to their investment portfolio with reports suggesting World Wresting Entertainment (WWE) founder Vince McMahon is ready to sell the company.
According to DAZN, McMahon has agreed to cash in on the global brand, taking it off the stock market and making it a private company again. The news dropped just hours after Stephanie McMahon, Vince's daughter, resigned from the company's board after her father had returned as Chairman of the Board. Many with knowledge of the business claim an announcement is 'imminent'.
The sports entertainment brand is valued at around $6.3 billion (£5.2m) and has a rich history with Saudi Arabia after holding its Crown Jewel, Entertainment Live, and Greatest Royal Rumble events in the kingdom in recent years. WWE also has a 10-year agreement to hold two live events in the country every year.
READ MORE: Howe's speech, Burn's firm message and Shearer enjoys - Newcastle moments you may have missed
PIF already owns significant stakes in a plethora of Western companies, including Uber, Disney, Facebook and Boeing, totalling around $608bn in assets. Newcastle chairman and PIF chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan has made no secret of the wealth fund's desire to diversity their portfolio across the globe.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative Institute conference last year, Al-Rumayyan admitted PIF were seeking to expand their options as they joined forces with Amanda Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi and Jamie Reuben to take the reins at St James' Park.
"The board decided we should change the strategy of PIF," Al-Rumayyan said. "It was initially more of a developmental fund and it was decided that we want to change it to a sovereign wealth fund that invests in many generations for the nation. After the full diagnostic benchmarking exercise, we decided where we want to be.
"If you look at PIF today, it's one sovereign wealth fund but it is in fact six different pools of investments. We have two pools that invest internationally and four pools that invest domestically."
WWE chief McMahon is no stranger to Newcastle United either after repeatedly being linked with a takeover bid for the Magpies during Mike Ashley's reign. A move never materialised and McMahon never dipped his toe in English football as he focused on expanding his wrestling brand around the world.
READ NEXT
Howe's speech, Burn's firm message and Shearer enjoys - Newcastle moments you may have missed
Bruno Guimaraes "proud" of Newcastle United mentality monsters and praises Wor Flags' scarf display
Eddie Howe explains special pre-match moment as Newcastle harness 'thing of beauty'
Dan Ashworth drops future Newcastle transfer hint as Man United and Liverpool question answered
