April 15 – The on-off sale of Newcastle United, one of English football’s best supported sleeping giants, has moved a significant step closer with reports that a £300 million deal has been agreed.
New documents appear to show that owner Mike Ashley has entered into a charge agreement with financier Amanda Staveley who has assembled a group involving a Saudi-backed consortium and the Reuben Brothers, in 2019 ranked as the second richest family in the UK.
The charge agreement reportedly lays the legal groundwork for a potential deal to be completed. The Premier League has been informed of the deal and has begun its checks on the potential owners and directors.
Ashley has been seeking a buyer for Newcastle for some years and first began discussion with Staveley in 2017 via her PCP Capital Partners firm – for a sum of £300 million. Stavelely brokered the deal for the Abu Dhabi acquisition of Manchester City.
The relationship of the sportswear retail tycoon with the club’s fans has long been troubled. Newcastle United boast a huge fan base but during Ashley’s reign the supporters have become disillusioned with lack of investment and ambition even though the balance sheet has been kept healthy.
Under the terms, Ashley’s 13-year ownership is close to ending, with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman taking an 80% stake.
Reports suggest a deal could be finalised in a month, before current proposals for the end of football’s lockdown, bringing to a close a lengthy saga that has long been mooted but never materialised.
Ashley bought Newcastle for £133 million in 2007 and had apparently been holding out for £340 million, only for the price to have dropped in recent weeks.
But if a deal is struck now, it could potentially launch a new era for the club after years of discontent.
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