What the latest Newcastle United takeover Companies House updates actually mean

On Wednesday, RB Sports & Media Limited, with links to the Reuben Brothers and indirectly Amanda Staveley, filed a confirmation statement. Then on Thursday both Cantervale Limited, of which Staveley is sole director, and JV1 Limited also filed updates.

JV1 Ltd is a company with three officers, Staveley is one of those, but it also has two active ‘persons of significant control’. Those are the above mentioned RB Sports & Media Ltd and Cantervale Ltd.

The joint venture company, seen very much as a possible vehicle to facilitate the potential £300+ million takeover of Newcastle United by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Reuben Brothers and Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners, also filed a confirmation statement.

The Cantervale Ltd update is detailed as a ‘total exemption full accounts made up to 31 January 2020’ on the company page. The details of which, according to the Companies House website, will be known within the next 10 days.

Companies House has been a source of significant information for fans and journalists alike during this takeover process, but these latest updates are being described by sources as ‘company housekeeping’ – and do not point towards any significant progress on the deal front.

A confirmation statement is, in layman’s terms, a document filed to ensure all details of said company are current and up to date. Every limited company, of which the three above are, needs to send a confirmation statement every 12 months as a matter of course.

RB Sports & Media Ltd were incorporated on January 21, 2020, with JV1 Ltd on January 22, 2020.

The deal remains stuck in the legal mud at present with hoped-for January progress proving hard to come by.

Newcastle United are awaiting details of their arbitration hearing against the Premier League in relation to the league’s application of the owners’ and directors’ test.

The Premier League have also been hit with the threat of a competition action, courtesy of fan group Newcastle Consortium Supporters Limited.

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