Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has recently been discussing how much the current Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley would make from the club’s sale.
Ashley first bought shares in the club in 2007, when he paid £55m to acquire a 41.6% holding in the Toon (per The Guardian) before he later purchased more shares to complete a takeover of the club (per BBC).
It now looks, however, like Newcastle may be sold to a Saudi Arabian-backed consortium as there is an ongoing takeover saga surrounding the club (per Chronicle Live).
So, in the latest episode of the Price of Football podcast, Maguire first discussed the intricacies of the takeover, before estimating how much Ashley would stand to make from the sale.
He said: “There has been a £15m deposit paid by PIF; it looks as if contracts have been exchanged. So, that would indicate that if somebody else comes in with a better bid, there could be penalties paid by Mike Ashley.
“Certainly, the PIF would be able to get their legal costs back, in all probability.
“He [Ashley] bought it for around about £140m. He’s lent over £100m on top of that. So, he is looking to make a profit in respect of his ‘decade of joy’ at the club, but he won’t be making huge amounts.
“It wouldn’t be the same position as say, the Glazers should they choose to sell Manchester United, or FSG if they decided to sell Liverpool, who could make a multiple of their original purchase price.”
TIF Thoughts…
Judging from what the finance expert had to say, it seems that while Ashley will make some profit on any potential sale of the club, it won’t be a vast amount in relative terms.
Are you bothered about how much profit Mike Ashley makes from the sale of the club?No, it is irrelevant
Yes, I am bothered
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However, it seems probable that the St. James’ Park faithful will care little for the profits of their current owner in any sale of the North East club, given their opposition to his tenure at Newcastle.