According to the Daily Mail’s Craig Hope, a ‘source close to Mike Ashley‘ claims he is ‘yet to see evidence’ that Peter Kenyon has the financial support to seal a £300m takeover – however it’s said that THREE other parties have all agreed to meet Ashley’s valuation.
Whilst this sounds slightly concerning from a Kenyon perspective, the story does state that the consortium supporting the ex-Chelsea and Man Utd CEO could ‘firm up their backing’ after analysing the club’s accounts.
So, it seems to me that this shouldn’t really flag up any great cause for concern, with Ashley clearly happy enough with Kenyon given he’s already given him access to the Newcastle finances – along with the fact there’s three others parties who appear to be capable of completing a takeover.
Here’s a snippet from Craig Hope’s latest takeover piece for the Mail:
‘Mike Ashley does not know if Peter Kenyon has the funds to complete a takeover of Newcastle United, Sportsmail has been told.
‘Sources close to the Magpies owner say the former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive has been ‘rowing his own boat’ and they are yet to see evidence of the financial support he would need to see through a deal of around £300million.
‘However, given Kenyon’s standing within the game and knowing he has been working to secure investors in the US, he has been given access to the club’s detailed accounts.
‘It is thought the consortium Kenyon has been putting together could firm up their backing following analysis of Newcastle’s finances, and Ashley is hoping this proves to be the case.
‘Sources also insist there are three other parties who have agreed to meet the valuation in excess of £300m, although their identity remains unknown.’
Mike Ashley does not know if Peter Kenyon has secured funds to complete £300m NUFC takeover https://t.co/U8nNZ5jcPs
— Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) December 5, 2018
It’s not what we wanted to hear, as we could do without anything that makes us remotely sceptical, however I don’t think there’s any major cause for concern on the Kenyon front just yet.
We obviously don’t know the full details, but it sounds to me like he’ll soon be able to show proof of funds once he’s had a good look at the club’s accounts.
Even if the worst case happened and he was no longer seen as a credible buyer, it sounds like there’s THREE others parties able to do a deal – a luxury we did not have when Amanda Staveley was in takeover talks this time last year.
If theres 3 other options why would he mention just Kenyon? Seems all rather strange but nothing is ever straight forward will Ashley.
Clive(Quote)
Hilarious that Ashley demands to see that prospective buyers have the means to do a better job than he has.
11 years, net spend one million pounds from the best part of a billion quid income. Can somebody explain to a simple soul exactly how it would be possible to do a worse job? Because I’m at a total loss to see how that was even remotely possible.
Just sell up and get out of Dodge. You ain’t wanted here – period.
Bobbybee(Quote)