Lee Ryder has been speaking on a recent episode of the Everything is Black and White Podcast to discuss Henry Mauriss’ interest in buying Newcastle United.
The Chronicle reporter also discussed the Premier League with regards to the takeover but spent a bit of time on Mauriss and revealed some details on talks between the American and Mike Ashley.
He said: “The exclusivity part of the [Amanda] Staveley bid ended towards the back-end of June, and since then, he’s [Mauriss] really had a chance to step up and make his interest real.
“What we know is that Mike Ashley’s been in America since March and during that time he’s held conversations face-to-face with Mauriss and certainly through lawyers that the £350m proposal was on the table, but it couldn’t be pushed through because the Staveley camp were in that long exclusivity part of their deal.”
So, it seems as if Mauriss and Ashley have met and have discussed a potential takeover, and now that Amanda Staveley’s consortium has withdrawn its offer to buy Newcastle, Mauriss appears to have a clear run at it.
Do you expect Mauriss' bid to become serious?
No, he will disappear
Yes, hopefully will be done quickly
TIF Thoughts…
Mauriss’ interest first emerged in April, and then in June, it had emerged that he had made a bid, but could not do anything until the Staveley bid was resolved.
Now that the Saudi-led offer has been withdrawn, Mauriss has a clear run at trying to buy the Toon, but he has been reportedly set a deadline of 14th August to agree a deal, and he must also submit a deposit and prove he has the funds before Ashley will let him pass onto the next stage of the deal.
It seems that it is all down to Mauriss, and he must now prove that he is a serious contender for buying the Toon.