Newcastle United news: Finance guru salutes PiF as £40m February investment confirmed
The Newcastle United owners may have pumped an extra £40million into the club to account for their January spending.
So says finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest developments behind the scenes at St James’ Park.
Documents filed with Companies House last Friday (4 February) show that Newcastle recently issued a single share at a value of £40m.
Newcastle have over 8m shares in total, and the new allotment would value the club at hundreds of trillions if all were issued at the same price.
The Magpies spent £85m on Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, and Dan Burn in the January window, while Matt Targett signed on loan.
And Plumley explains why the club’s transfer activity may have prompted PIF to sanction the one-time £40m investment.
“There are two likely motives,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“We can’t be 100 per cent sure because there is no explanation attached to these things. But it is equity into the business.
“It’s one way to get cash in there quickly, and it’s not a loan. That goes directly into the business. It could have been used to drive transfer activity.
“The other thing is that, given that it is only one share, it doesn’t dilute the shareholding of Amanda Staveley or the Reuben brothers.
“So it’s equity into the business and it’s in line with FFP, a perfectly legal thing to do. That is just smart financial organisation.
“The other side is to not dilute the minority shareholding as well. It’s a fairly common business practice in general, albeit not usually at that value.”
Newcastle face Everton tonight (8 February) in their first match back after the winter break.
Eddie Howe could hand debuts to Burn, Targett and Guimaraes in the clash on Tyneside.
In other news, pundit suggests Newcastle United already lining up new left-back signing after Jamal Lewis reveal.