Henry Winter: Two American groups interested in Newcastle United takeover

Amanda Staveley
Amanda Staveley

Henry Winter of The Times has delivered a major update on the Newcastle United takeover.

The senior Times journalist has claimed that two American groups are still interested in buying Newcastle United, and they have the requisite funds to do so.

However, the Saudi consortium led by Amanda Staveley group have already submitted papers to the Premier League and they are well advanced.

Mike Ashley is finally ready to sell after 13 years of owning the club. The Business tycoon has agreed to sell to the Saudi consortium for £300m, a significant drop of £40m from his initial asking price due to the coronavirus impact.

Staveley and co are very confident that the deal will go through, and as a result have paid a sum of £17 million to Mike Ashley already, while the remaining amount will be paid after they get the green signal from the Premier League.

UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden suggested yesterday that the government will not intervene in the takeover process. However, the Premier League ‘have some queasiness’ about the takeover.

The Times have claimed that the Premier League lawyers are investigating Saudi Arabia’s involvement in pirate broadcasting of top-flight football after the accusation was raised by BeINSports.

Also, Human rights group Fair/Square Projects have expressed their opposition to the deal in a letter to the Premier League and the FA. The Independent has reported that the proposal puts further pressure on the Premier League over the takeover.

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