An expert in arbitration has dropped some promising insight on the potential takeover of Newcastle United.
The Lowdown: Saudis off watchlist
As per the Press Association (via Sky Sports), the Premier League have made the decision not to call for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to be kept on the United States government’s piracy watchlist for 2021.
Mike Ashley has drawn some encouragement from this, as he remains determined to sell the North East club to the KSA consortium.
Sources from within the group have said that they remain committed to their takeover bid if the arbitration hearing between the St. James’ Park faithful and the English top flight goes in the way of the former.
The Latest: Arbitration expert’s insight
As shared by journalist Mark Douglas in his latest piece for The Chronicle, an arbitration expert has dropped some promising insight on the potential deal following the news of the Saudis being taken off of the watchlist.
Solicitor Paul Stothard, who is an international arbitration expert with Norton Rose Fulbright, has claimed that the news ‘could be a basis’ for the division to change its mind about the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) potential ownership on Tyneside.
He added that it ‘no longer matters’ if PIF are found not to be a separate entity to the Saudi state, as long as the latter is no longer implicated in Intellectual Property (IP) breaches.
Stothard claims that with good will on both sides of the deal, a path could be laid to settlement, which could lead to PIF being approved to take a majority stake in the Magpies.
He concludes that ‘there is a path to a deal’ if all parties involved want it.
The Verdict: Takeover hope
There is clearly still hope that the takeover can be pushed through, especially if both the Premier League and the Toon are willing to cooperate.
The fact that the top flight have not called for the KSA to be on the piracy watchlist is certainly promising given the disputes over the latter illegally streaming games from the division via piracy channel beoutQ.
Nonetheless, the arbitration proceedings will paint a much clearer picture over the direction of where the takeover is heading, and a positive result for NUFC could mean that the process is accelerated.
In other news, find out what Ashley has told sources close to the takeover here!