Jay Penske said to get $200M investment from Saudi fund

Jay Penske has sold a minority stake of his media company, Penske Media Corp., to Saudi Ar📖abia’s Public Inꦦvestment Fund, The Post has learned.

The fund has invested “over $200 million cash — with another $25 million being invested in a joint venture in the Middle East and North African region, according t🅘o a source close to the company.

It could not be immediately learned how large a stake PIF will receive in PMC, which owns Variety, WWD and in December bought a controlling stake in Rolling Stone — 𒆙but one ind🅷ustry source said the cash infusion valued Penske’s company at around $1 billion.

A PMC spokeswoman would not comment on any possible investment but con🃏firmed🔯 that Penske continues to control “well in excess of 51 percent of the company.”

Reached by The Post on Tuesday, Pensꦏke, the company chairman and chief executive, would not comment on any possible ✃deal.

“While I won’t comment on the investment and its details, I’m so proud that PMC has built a business recognized by this level of capital,” Penske said in a brief interview. “We’ve succeeded not by hype, number of users or the future promise of the business; ♎instead, our success is based on earnings and results as well as one of the finest teams in media.”

The Saudi-based PIF, perhaps best known for its technology ♒investments, has recently been in 💧talks with virtual reality company Magic Leap for a $400 million investment, according to reports.

PIF was also lead investor in SoftBank’s $100 billion tech fund, the Vision Fund, in which it committed $45 billion 𒀰of capital. PIF was also the lead investor in Blackstone’s $40 billion infrastructure fund, ♛in which it committed $20 billion.

In more consumer-facing deals, PIF made a $3♏.5 billion investment in Uber, 🧸as well as a $1 billion cash infusion in Virgin’s space companies.

Penske has been following a plan of scooping up distressed media properties — as in the Ro♓lling Stone deal — the majority of which have a broa𓆏der cultural significance in entertainment and fashion.

Founded in 2004, PMC began as a software/media company that provided digital media services to brands. Two years 👍later, Penske, who is the son of billionaire Roger Penske, began operating and building its own media portfolio with mail.com — sold in 2010 — and Nikki Fi༒nke’s Deadline.com in 2009.

Three years later, PMC bought Variety, the strugglin🧸g Hollywood trade, from Reed Elsevier, and Women’s Wear Daily, the fashion trade paper, from Condé ಌNast in 2014.

Penske also scooped up the Robb Report, a niche luxury magazine, from 𝔍Dan Gilbert, the owne🦋r of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans, in 2016.