Newcastle United PIF owners chasing major Serie A club takeover

Newcastle United's owners are in talks to takeover their Champions League group stage rivals.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is ‘interested in acquiring the majority shares' of Serie A side AC Milan 'by the end of the season,' according to the Italian media.

It's believed PIF are set to make an offer to Gerry Cardinale and RedBird soon, however it has also been reported that Cardinale has no intention of selling his shares any time soon. 

AC Milan’s owner is trying to repay £513m of the vendor loan granted by Elliot Management following the purchase of the club in 2022, which fuelled takeover rumours. It’s believed Cardinale has met with multiple investors.

In December 2023, AC Milan’s CEO Giorgio Furlani travelled to Saudi Arabia and held meetings about investment opportunities. 

However, it has also been reported Cardinale has "no intention" of selling the majority of his shares in the short-term but is willing to give up a minority share. Eventually this could lead to a majority takeover. The owner has met with other investors too.

PIF has also been linked to Inter Milan, however, in a sponsorship capacity.

The investment fund owns 80% of Newcastle United following the 2021 takeover. Amanda Staveley, who owns 10% of the club, has spoken previously about the desire to create a multi-club model. PIF has also shown a hunger to secure more sports investments across Europe.

“We’re looking at everything in terms of how we grow our brand, our club," said Staveley. "Opportunities to buy players affordably well early in the cycle are critical to our growth. We’re very focused on the academy and young players. We’re bringing some exciting guys in.

“Obviously we’ve looked at a multi-club but whenever you look at multi-club you’ve got to make sure you’ve got the right fit with the changes around GBE points at the moment. It’s important to do that.

“You also have to choose your territory correctly and make sure you’ve got the right chemistry. Remember, you’re working with another fanbase and another area. It’s critical you set out what your goals will be. It’s complicated.

“We’re also looking at another structure that would allow us to do both, maybe something that gives us more opportunity to work with a lot more clubs. That’s just quite an early stage. I think anybody who is looking to buy a club is going to be looking at that multi-club model.”