Mike Ashley makes bizarre request to Peter Kenyon & Co ahead of potential NUFC takeover – Report

According to North East reporter Michael Walker, Mike Ashley is asking potential buyers to stump up £200m before ‘full takeover talks’ can begin – with him then wanting a further £100m to seal any deal.

We have to assume this is to separate credible buyers from ‘time wasters’ as Ashley calls them and that potential buyers would get their funds back if talks did break down; which, knowing Ashley, they likely would do.

Here’s a snippet from Walker’s latest takeover piece from i News:

There is decreasing expectation within St James’ Park that the proposed sale of the club by Mike Ashley to a consortium fronted by Peter Kenyon will happen this month – if at all.

The tone has gone from one of anticipation before Christmas to scepticism today. Ashley is believed to want £200m to enter into full takeover talks. From there he will seek add-ons taking the club’s valuation close to £300m.

Kenyon, the former Chelsea and Manchester United executive, is trying to reach the £200m mark. He has held discussions but is viewed from within Newcastle United as being short.

Ashley is a notoriously unpredictable deal-maker, so nothing is certain, but the overall takeover picture means that, if a sale does not proceed, Ashley will have to decide whether to back Rafa Benitez with club funds this month.

There appears to have been genuine interest from both Kenyon and Staveley to buy Newcastle and the fact both can’t match the asking price says more about Ashley than them.

It is a case of deja vu for Newcastle fans here and we have heard it all before – a deal is difficult to do, buyers aren’t credible etc etc and all alongside the usual backdrop of the January transfer window. Newcastle fans are rightly cynical by now and fed up, with fan groups now demanding more direct protest action.

Reports on the takeover like this today continue to surface but the reality is, we are no nearer a deal but drawing closer to the end of the transfer window, with zero investment – again.

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Simon Riddlesden

Lifelong Newcastle United fan and East Stand season ticket holder. Observations from a supporter who has followed NUFC during Champions League participation and through relegation, taking me from Milan to Scunthorpe.

12 thoughts on “Mike Ashley makes bizarre request to Peter Kenyon & Co ahead of potential NUFC takeover – Report

  1. Only the thick think the club will be sold and only the thick will continue to give the fat ******* there money for his other business dealings club money ie yours and mine should stay in the club where it belongs hes a thief not getting any more from me

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  2. He calls potential buyer’s ‘Tyre Kickers ‘ well everybody that’s looked at Newcastle has always had four flat tyres to kick under Ashley”s Stewardship so what does he expect, Newcastle isn’t worth £300m hence why club has never been bought

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  3. And yet the report a few days back from equally “well informed” reporters stated that Kenyon had £200 million and was struggling to get the additional £100 million to make up Ashley’s asking price of £300 million.

    Now this guy says Kenyon doesn’t even have £200 million needed to open negotiations!
    Do ANY of these reporters even know anything?

    Waste of time

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  4. The club is worth about 250 million for a sale , but greedy fat mike wants more, truth is it will be worth 140 mil come May so if I was Peter Kenyon I would hang on .
    Thing I don’t get is they struggle to buy the club so how they going to buy top players ???

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  5. Why but why should buyers come forward knowing they just don’t have the funds to buy the club.MA pr stunt and we know they are both real good freinds

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  6. With all the money in the game man Utd and city could drop 300million in one window yet no one out there can pull 300million together to buy nufc? A club that get 50k fans every home game and owns their own ground it starts and ends with Mike Ashley why the club hasnt and won’t be sold anytime soon.

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  7. Agree as above FCB will never sell while hes milking it for millions every year to fund his high street ventures

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  8. Ha ha ha “the mood has gone from anticipation to scepticism” who was anticipating that the greedy fat ****** was actually going to sell, certainly not the fans. More fakeover lies again. Just sell up or die Mike you greedy fat ******, preferably the latter as well.

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  9. It’s pretty much standard practice for bidders to put up a deposit to get to the bidding stage in big deals. This is not a bizarre request. Ashley has always said bidders must provide proof of funds, and this is one way of doing it.

    As for the value of the club, what were City worth when Mansour bought them? 200 million? Move that forward to today, with the increase in TV revenue, our one club city status, our fan base?

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