Yahoo Finance Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley close to selling Newcastle United to Saudi Arabia for £300m
New documents show that Sports Direct (SPD.L) boss Mike Ashley is getting closer to selling Newcastle United football club.
The 31-page charge agreement details a takeover bid understood to be worth £300m ($377m).
The bid is led by financier Amanda Staveley, involving Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and billionaire businessmen brothers David and Simon Reuben.
The charge agreement has been lodged at Companies House, first noted by the BBC, and show that negotiations for a potential deal to be completed are underway. It also included details of a £150m claim related to Staveley's firm, PCP Capital Partners, and its long-running legal case against Barclays Bank.
A charge is the security a company gives for a loan.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is one of the world’s wealthiest sovereign wealth funds and the original takeover plan involved PIF taking an 80% stake in the club, Reuben Brothers 10%, and PCP Capital 10%.
Newcastle United have been contacted for comment.
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Stavely first tried to buy the club in 2018, for a reported £250m.
The Premier League has been informed of the developments and has received the necessary paperwork to begin carrying out mandatory checks under its owners and directors test.
Ashley bought Newcastle for £133m in 2007 and has been trying to sell the club since 2017.
Newcastle United is one of only three Premier League clubs to have placed their non-playing staff on the government’s furlough scheme due to the coronavirus and supporters have also been charged for next season's season tickets.
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