£350M TOON BID WON’T HIT BRUCE PLANS
STEVE BRUCE has been told to press ahead with transfer plans despite Newcastle being the subject of £350million takeover talks.
The Toon chief sought assurances from managing director Lee Charnley when it emerged Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is behind a bid to take the club off owner Mike Ashley.
Newcastle have launched an ambitious bid to land Borussia Dortmund striker Paco Alcacer, who is also wanted by Valencia – a deal which is not affected by this new takeover attempt.
Ashley is out of the country, but is said to be far from happy that news broke in the US that he has been in talks with a consortium.
The Saudi Public Investment fund, controlled by the country’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, plans to purchase an 80 per cent stake. The remaining 20 per cent would be covered by PCP Capital Limited, headed by Amanda Staveley, with whom Ashley held talks in 2017, and British billionaires David and Simon Reuben.
The Reubens have invested heavily in property and developments on Tyneside in recent years.
Newcastle will not comment officially. No bid has yet been tabled, but the club has not denied there is fresh interest and talks have been going on since late last year.
At boardroom level, however, there is a feeling the chances of it all breaking down have increased now the talks have become public.
But if Crown Prince Bin Salman is central to this bid, then meeting Newcastle’s £350m price would not be an issue, although it does raise questions as to why others have been brought into a consortium.