The owners of Newcastle football are likely to enter F1! Which team should the Saudi company fund?

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is a well-known firm, especially in the football world, as it owns the English club Newcastle United and the controversial LIV Golf. It is a huge Saudi Arabian company that owns the already gigantic Aramco as the main sponsor of Aston Martin F1.

The Public Investmend Fund, or PIF for short, is to join the Aston Martin organisation.

But the firm’s diverse range of interests also includes stakes in a number of other companies such as Boeing, Disney, CitiCorp, Facebook, BP, Marriott, Uber, Tesla, Nintendo and Total.

The company also recently announced plans for new equity financing and strategic investments from a Saudi public investment fund. Back in July last year, the PIF became a major investor in McLaren Group as part of a refinancing of the organisation.

And now PFI is to enter Aston Martin Lagonda Holdings, which has been hit by falling share prices, debt and other financial ‘pressure’ over the past year.

With the new partnership, Aston Martin is set to raise a total of £653m with additional funding from existing investors, including Mercedes-Benz. According to Motorsport, this will make PIF the second largest shareholder with a 17% stake in the business.

Stroll’s Yew Tree consortium will own 18.3% and Mercedes-Benz will retain 9.7%, both of which have already reduced their stakes in any case.

Lawrence Stroll, owner of the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 team, has thus made it clear that this investment could cause a major upheaval. And not just economically, but also in terms of performance.

“This is a game-changing event for Aston Martin. It supports the implementation of our strategic plans and accelerates our long-term growth potential,” said Stroll, quoted by Motorsport.

Whether Stroll’s words will prove to be true, we will have to wait a while longer. However, the Aston Martin team has never suffered significantly financially and yet the stable is one of the worst performing in Formula One.

Sources: Aston Martin, Motorsport