toon takeover deal edges ever closer
STAVELEY AND HER PARTNERS ARE SET TO PUT IN THEIR BID
AMANDA Staveley and PCP Partners have had Newcastle United on their radar for six months.
Indeed with the group - led by Staveley - now valuing the Magpies at £300million following the early due diligence stages, they could be close to making a formal offer after several months of doing their homework on United.
It first emerged Mike Ashley was ready to sell back in June, when rumours of Chinese investment broke in the football and business world.
However, since then interest from the Far East has faded and Staveley’s PCP Partners are now the frontrunners, the club officially up for sale and Ashley even prepared to take staged payments to sell after 10 years at the helm.
PCP Partners have been eyeing a Premier League club throughout 2017, before it became known Ashley was ready to sell, and Newcastle have always been a club they are understood to have admired due to the history and fanbase at St James’ Park.
As the story develops rapidly, the suggestion from the PCP Partners’ end is their interest in United is deadly serious and they are far from a flash in the pan.
Staveley has been linked with Liverpool in recent times but the group of wealthy Middle East investors she is leading also know there is life outside the north west and Newcastle have massive potential if the club are given the TLC lacking in the eyes of supporters.
In the last 24 hours, reports from the Middle East suggest Newcastle will have the same commercial model as Manchester City under Sheikh Mansour.
If Newcastle accept any forthcoming bid it is also expected Rafa Benitez will be given a competitive transfer kitty to spend in January.
If Benitez can continue the Magpies’ great start to the new campaign the mind boggles at what could be achieved if money was on the table to spend when the window opens again after Christmas.
However, deep breaths are needed at the moment.
So far the Magpies are yet to accept any bid from the parties who have signed non-disclosure agreements - but the only positive signs are coming from Staveley’s group.
Staveley was not at Saturday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace but, as reported by the Chronicle, it was not an indication her interest had waned.
In fact, it was quite the opposite as a representative was in the crowd and a report was fed back to the group.
Also, and perhaps significantly, unlike previous takeover reports there have been no denials from the corridors of power at Newcastle.
United are hardly chasing any potential bidders away, they are in fact encouraging them to come forward.
So it now looks set to come down to whether Ashley and the United board are receptive to a potential £300million offer.
If the proposal is an up-front payment it begs the question whether this would be seen as a good offer for the club, especially given part payments have been publicly declared as acceptable for the Magpies in recent weeks.
One thing both parties do agree on is they want a sale completed by December.