Why Mike Ashley Should Accept Amanda Staveley’s £300million Bid
Much to the delight of Newcastle United’s support, Monday evening brought news of an official bid to buy Newcastle United Football Club.
Financier and business conduit Amanda Staveley reportedly submitted a formal £300million takeover offer to NUFC owner Mike Ashley to buy the club from him outright. According to reports, Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners launched the bid to buy Newcastle United late last week.
As of Monday evening when the news broke, it was unclear whether PCP was the only credible bidder for the club at this point, although it would seem that a period of exclusivity would be afforded to Ms Staveley in order for her to successfully negotiate a deal.
Despite the widely quoted £300million figure attached to this bid, counter stories have emerged appearing to claim that the real bid was lower than this and had already been rejected by Ashley. This would perhaps leave PCP and Staveley without the period of exclusivity they need, though no other bidders have been named as yet.
The money for this bid accrued by PCP is reportedly a combination of Amanda Staveley’s equity and that of her major investors who are based in the Middle East.
Although the identity of the Middle Eastern partners is unclear as of now, it is known in Newcastle that a pair of luxury Boeing 777 landed at Newcastle Airport recently and were accompanied by various helicopters. The occupants of the various aircraft are unknown, though the 777’s are used to transport the Abu Dhabi government. Speculation was rife last week that a Crown Price may, in fact, be looking to buy NUFC.
To date, however, PCP’s lawyers have not heard back from Mr Ashley’s lawyers about their latest offer, though there is no apparent deadline for bids to be made, given that the club has been up for sale for quite some time.
Mike Ashley reportedly wants a deal done by Christmas however and on this point, it is something he and the Newcastle fans can actually agree on. New owners, especially cash-rich ones, being in charge before the January transfer window opens would be a major plus for fans.
Despite the fact that nobody yet knows who the real power behind the throne would be and what money would be made available to Rafa Benitez, there is no doubt on Tyneside that things cannot ever be as bad as they have been under Mike Ashley. So this bid being accepted would be greeted with great cheer in the area.