Newcastle United’s owners have ramped up its UK investments by acquiring a significant stake in Sir Rocco Forte’s luxury hotel chain.
The announcement comes less than a week after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed its 10 per cent stake in Heathrow Airport.
Now PIF own a 49 per cent stake in Rocco Forte Hotels which is valued at around £1.2bn and owns the likes of Browns’ in London and Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh.
This extends a flurry of UK investments for Newcastle United’s owners. Alongside owning the club, 10 per cent of Heathrow, and now 49 per cent of the luxury hotel chain, PIF is also the second largest shareholder in Aston Martin.
Newcastle United’s takeover in 2021 saw PIF take a majority stake in the club, owning 80%.
The sovereign wealth fund appears to be building its tourism arm, having recently launched its own airline Riyadh Air which very quickly became Atletico Madrid’s front-of-shirt sponsor.
“PIF is an excellent partner for us going forward,” said Forte. “We have established an extremely good relationship during the course of our negotiations. They share the same vision for the brand and the future strategy of the group, with the same ambition to take a long-term view.”
Turqi Al-Nowaiser, the PIF deputy governor and head of international investments, said: “Our investment in Rocco Forte Hotels reflects PIF’s confidence in both the commercial opportunity and strength of the international hospitality and tourism industries that have shown remarkable resilience in recent years. As active long-term investors, PIF will continue to invest strategically in promising sectors to achieve sustainable returns globally.”
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