Mike Ashley is close to finalising a deal to sell Newcastle to a US consortium, according to a financial website called Betaville.
The site is run by journalist, Ben Harrington, who was M&A and Markets Editor at The Daily Telegraph.
“This is a story that’s been going backwards and forwards for the last couple of years,” the report claims.
“And no, Betaville isn’t referring to the dreaded Brexit. It’s the potential sale of Newcastle United Football Club by its billionaire owner Mike Ashley.
“Ashley, founder of London-listed retailer Sports Direct, rekinkled sale talks eighteen months or so ago and even since then buyers, such as dealmaker Amanda Staveley, have come and gone (often via the sports pages of British newspapers).
“But now Betaville hears from usually reliable sources the maverick entrepreneur has been over in the US putting the finishing touches to a deal to sell the business to a mystery consortium of investors.”
OPINION
This could be something and nothing. The website is a niche financial one that specialises in mergers and takeover claims. It’s run by a former Telegraph journalist which gives the site a degree of respectability. Details are scant but the journalist claims that reliable sources have informed him that a deal is close. Mark Douglas from the Chronicle has reported on the story and said that he is currently checking it out. He claims that there has been interest in Newcastle from the States recently and that the website in question has some “journalistic credentials”. Some Newcastle cynics would say that the timing of it, just before the transfer window, is suspect, and it may come to completely nothing. But Newcastle fans are desperate to see the back of Mike Ashley and a sale in time for Christmas would be extremely exciting. However, we’ve been here before and the timing is strangely similar to the Amanda Staveley rumours from last year. Ashley himself has hinted the club won’t be sold this season though, and this would really have come from leftfield if it does turn out to be true.