Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has provided an interesting update on the takeover front after Premier League TV deals worth £4.464bn were announced this week, revealing just how they will have huge consequences for Mike Ashley and Amanda Staveley in the potential sale of NUFC.
As we know, Mike Ashley called talks with Staveley off just last month, with the NUFC owner describing the Yorkshire businesswoman as a time-waster.
She has since hit back, stating that she does have genuine interest in the club, with her three bids being revealed in her detailed interview with the Guardian.
There’s a stand off at present, with the two parties valuations of NUFC appearing to be quite far apart and the matter of our Premier League status also putting any deal on hold.
One thing that will have a major effect on the deal is the Premier League TV deals (with some having been decided this week), and financial expert Kieran Maguire has explained here just why they could have big consequences in Mike Ashley’s attempts to sell the club and Staveley’s efforts to buy us:
Here’s what he told the Daily Star:
“The elephant in the room is that the Premier League is the most popular sporting product globally.
“The Premier League still think there is a lot growth potential in the overseas (TV) deals.
“If (Mike) Ashley thinks that those prices are going to be very high, he’s going to factor that into the valuation of the club.
“Clearly PCP want to take a more conservative view point of that so that is why there is a gap in those prices.
“Once we know the value of those deals, then you have got more certainty and I think then you could see parties coming together and saying ‘well now we know what the TV money is going to be going through to 2022, we’ve got a more secure sense of forecasting data from which we can come up with an agreed price’.
“Ashley is going to say one price, PCP are going to say another because it is in their best interests to do so.”
One worry of mine in all of this is that we stay up and Mike Ashley realises there’s serious money to be made here, with the new TV deals offering a whopping stack of cash to all those involved.
What I worry is that he A) not only ups his price considerably as a result, but B) considers taking the club off the market, realising that the club is not only self sufficient, promoting Sports Direct for free each week and gaining him a load of money for remaining in the top flight for another year.
I get the feeling he genuinely does want out, but he and Staveley’s valuations already seem some way apart, so there’s a fear that these TV deals could widen their valuations of the club even further.
On the flip side, if we’re a Premier League club come the summer and the TV deals look set to get more and more lucrative, then any potential ambitious and wealthy backers of Amanda Staveley (or any other interest party) would see the club as a risk free project that has huge potential.
“One worry of mine in all of this is that we stay up and Mike Ashley realises there’s serious money to be made here, with the new TV deals offering a whopping stack of cash to all those involved.”
This is the problem with so many bloggers on fan sites. They think Ashley’s an idiot.
Do you really think that he doesn’t realise how much cash is available?
Do you really think you figured it out before he did?
Come on, get real. There’s a reason he’s a multi billionaire and we’re just reading about him.
Rob Brown(Quote)
Someone please just put a Bullet in this fat man
Ash Hater(Quote)
Olly, I think Ashley knows the club is a cash cow for him as long as it is in PL. He has no intention to sell it. The only way we get rid off him as I can see is drop to Championship and stay there, unfortunately.
funrafa(Quote)