Newcastle United

Newcastle United: Finance expert discusses Bellagraph Nova Group

|
Image for Newcastle United: Finance expert discusses Bellagraph Nova Group

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has recently discussed the latest regarding the former prospective Newcastle United owner Bellagraph Nova Group (BNG).

In August, BNG claimed that they had held talks with the Toon regarding a takeover of the club from Mike Ashley (via Independent).

It was even stated that discussions were at an advanced stage, they had already provided proof of funds and they were willing to ‘massively contribute’ to Newcastle’s development.

However, at the end of last month, it was claimed by The Northern Echo that talks with BNG had been called off.

In the latest episode of The Price of Football podcast, Maguire discussed the latest regarding Bellagraph Nova Group and aired his belief that Newcastle may have ‘dodged a bullet’.

1 of 8

A nice easy one to start off with. Who scored Newcastle's opening goal of the 2020/21 PL season?

He said: “A firm of auditors, one of the big firms of accountants called Ernst & Young – they alerted the Singapore police, because this company, BNG, was then claiming that Ernst & Young had signed off the audit for some of the company’s subsidiaries, based in the Cayman Islands.

“And Ernst & Young has said, ‘Hold on, we’ve never been near this company. These signatures, they’re not ours.’

“So, as far as wrong ‘uns are concerned, it does look [as] if Newcastle have dodged a bullet here, and whatever these people are up to, it certainly doesn’t reflect well on them.

“But for all of the dislike of Mike Ashley, I think that Newcastle fans are probably better off without these guys around.”

TIF Thoughts…

As can be seen in what Maguire had to say, he seems to firmly believe that the Toon had a lucky escape in not being taken over by Bellagraph Nova Group.

Who would you rather have owning Newcastle United?

Mike Ashley

Mike Ashley

BNG

BNG

However, as stated in The Northern Echo’s report, BNG’s offer to purchase the club supposedly never got beyond Mike Ashley’s legal team.

So, perhaps it was never a realistic possibility that the company would be taking over the Toon anyway.

Share this article