England’s Newcastle United soccer team has been purchased for $409 million by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, following a year-and-a-half of disputes regarding the Saudi government’s involvement. 

Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, heads the fund, which is set to become the world’s largest by 2030, managing $2 trillion in financial assets.

On Thursday, the Premier League received legally binding assurances from the Saudi Kingdom guaranteeing the following:

• It will not control the club.
• The consortium’s purchase will be separate from the Kingdom.

Before the deal was approved, activists had called on the Premier League to consider Saudi Arabia’s alleged human rights abuses, arguing that a club purchase would be “sports washing” on the Kingdom’s behalf.

Mike Ashley, who owned the team for 14 years, will no longer be involved with the 128-year-old organization.

The Saudi consortium will own 80% of the team. Property developers Simon and David Reuben will own 10%. The remaining 10% will go to PCP Capital Partners.

Qatari media network BeIN Sport, which owns Premier League media rights in the Middle Eastern region, had been banned from broadcasting in Saudi Arabia due to a dispute over the country’s involvement with pirated content. BeIN is now clear to air matches in the country following the lift of the ban this week.

Weeks after closing its $400 million acquisition of Beyond Yoga in late September, Levi Strauss and Co.’s fiscal Q3 revenue is up 41% year-over-year to $1.5 billion.

Levi CEO Chip Bergh forecasts Beyond Yoga will add $100 million in revenue next year as a standalone division — Beyond Yoga has more than doubled in revenue and profitability in the last three years.

• With the addition of the athletic wear brand and preparation for upcoming holidays, Levi estimates inventories will increase by mid-single-digits — inventories in Q3 were down 4% from 2019.
• Bergh emphasized the opportunities in entering the $50 billion performance athletic category, which he says is five times bigger than the total jean category.
• Acquiring Beyond Yoga will help Levi attain its goal of getting its women’s business to account for 50% of sales. Women’s items currently make up one-third of the company’s sales.

Bergh says Levi wants to take Beyond Yoga international, as most of its business is currently in the U.S. and online, and that some of its capabilities regarding “fabrics and fabrication in this more performance-oriented business can help us on the rest of our business.”

Levi has a market value of $9.76 billion and expects fourth-quarter revenue to increase 20% year-over-year.

An audit of FC Barcelona’s finances revealed that the historic club was on the brink of financial ruin earlier in the year.

The audit, conducted by Deloitte, determined that the club was technically bankrupt when team president Joan Laporta took over in March, Barcelona CEO Ferrán Reverter said on Wednesday.

• The club had debts and obligations totaling $1.56 billion when Laporta succeeded Josep Maria Bartomeu in March, Reverter said.
• The club’s payroll rose 61% from 2016 to 2020 under Bartomeu.
• The pandemic caused Barca $124.9 million in losses, according to Reverter — only 8% of the financial hole the team was in. The team lost $556.2 million in the 2020-2021 season.

Reverter noted that had the team kept last season’s roster intact, including departed stars Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, the payroll would have been $965.5 million — 108% above recurring revenue.

While the club has had to dial back on its player spending with $179.2 million in payroll cuts this summer, it is looking to invest in renovations in its historic Camp Nou facility. Barca is seeking member approval of up to $1.73 billion for the project.

Barca borrowed $605 million from Goldman Sachs in June to refinance debts. The team now has a net negative equity of $521.5 million.