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Abu Dhabi move already confirmed as Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris UK exit plan emerges

Adam Williams

Wed 8 January 2025 21:08, UK

You do not get where Aston Villa owner Nassef Sawiris, whose net worth totals £6.4bn, is without making bold, often cutthroat decisions. And Egypt’s richest man may be set to make another.

Sawiris first bought into Villa alongside private equity titan Wes Edens in 2018, paying £30m to take 55 per cent of the club’s equity from Tony Xia.

Six-and-a-half-years later, during which time Edens and Sawiris (NSWE) have increased their stake, recent share issues to new investors Atairos value Aston Villa’s V Sports network at close to £1bn.

Whether there is appetite in the football finance market to pay that much for a club yet to demonstrate long-term profitability is another issue, but NSWE have indisputably restored Villa to the big time.

The inspired appointment of Unai Emery, with help from legendary sporting director Monchi, yielded a 4th-place Premier League finish last term and lucrative season of Champions League football in 2023-25.

This campaign has been less of an unqualified success but Villa’s form has stabilised after a rocky start and they are just four points off the top four as things stand.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
4	ChelseaChelsea	20	10	6	4	39	24	15	36
5	NewcastleNewcastle	20	10	5	5	34	22	12	35
6	Man CityManchester City	20	10	4	6	36	27	9	34
7	B’mouthBournemouth	20	9	6	5	30	23	7	33
8	Aston VillaAston Villa	20	9	5	6	30	32	-2	32
9	FulhamFulham	20	7	9	4	30	27	3	30
10	BrightonBrighton	20	6	10	4	30	29	1	28
11	BrentfordBrentford	20	8	3	9	38	35	3	27

That Villa are competing at Europe’s top table for the first time since the heady 1980s primarily thanks to the benevolence of the owners, who have backed them to the hilt in the transfer market.

Yes, they have strained under the weight of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) of late, but Edens, Sawiris and latterly Atairos have always basically spent as much as the regulations have allowed.

How NSWE rank among Premier League’s richest owners

But why? What exactly is their end-goal?

For Atairos, a London-headquartered private equity firm, it doesn’t take a football finance expert to decipher their long-term plan: buy low, sell high.

When exactly they will cross that particular Rubicon isn’t clear, nor is how they will get there. But it is crystal-clear that they are spending with a view to a return, not as a vanity project.

In Edens and Sawiris’ cases, it isn’t as cut-and-dry.

Both men are venture capitalists, whose business records superficially suggests that they too will one day cash in for a massive return on investment.

But they clearly have grand ambitions in football, evidenced by their commitment to expand Villa Park and their increasingly loud presence at Premier League shareholder meetings.

For the time being, it would seem they are going absolutely nowhere.

However, one headline today has sent alarm bells ringing in B6.

• READ MORE: Aston Villa now expected to sign Tottenham target within days after agreeing £7.5m salary package

Nassef Sawiris has moved offices to UAE amid talk of UK exit

In the Premier League, British and American owners dominate the landscape, but there is a growing influence from the Middle East.

As well as Egyptian Sawiris, Manchester City are owned by Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group and Newcastle United by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Looking deeper, very few clubs’ ultimate ownership structures are domiciled in the United Kingdom. Aston Villa parent company V Sports, for example, is technically based in Luxembourg.

So when reported today that Sawiris is exploring leaving the UK because of what he thinks is a hostile political and tax environment, it wasn’t as dramatic a revelation for Villa as it might have seemed.

Indeed, Sawiris has already relocated his family offices to Abu Dhabi, where he has close links.

What impact, if any, a UK exit would have on Villa isn’t entirely clear, but it is more likely to be a blow for his personal staff in Mayfair who oversee his British property portfolio than it is for the club.

• READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano says Aston Villa have ‘started talks’ to sign La Liga defender Unai Emery actually loves

NSWE and the behind-the-scenes alliance between Aston Villa and Man City

When it emerged that Sawiris was moving his family offices to Abu Dhabi, some sleuths highlighted an apparently cosy relationship with Man City, who of course are Abu Dhabi-owned.

Villa have sided with City on several issues, most notable in their challenge to the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) Rules.

Sawiris himself took the unusual step for a Premier League owner in publicly calling for a vote on the revised rules taking place, allying Villa with City’s position in the process.

Wes Edens meanwhile has received £2.3bn in funds from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund – which is headed up by Man City CEO Khaldoon Al-Mubarak – for external business projects.