CI businessman on brink of Newcastle United takeover

Friday 18 October 2019

A Channel Island businessman appears to be on the brink of taking over Newcastle United from Mike Ashley.

Former Manchester United and Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon has registered a company in Jersey in preparation for the move that aims to reverse the club’s fortunes.

He has teamed up with US billionaire Joseph DaGrossa and GACP Sports, which owns French club Bordeaux, in a consortium that has put forward a £300million package. 

The deal reportedly involves an up-front payment of £125million to Mr Ashley, whose ownership of the club has proven controversial in recent years.

After 10 years, he put Newcastle up for sale in 2017, but said he hadn’t yet received the right offer earlier this year.

But reports suggest that the group led by Mr Kenyon, who is non-executive chairman of Jersey-based sports firm Esportif, is closing in. 

Pictured: Mike Ashley, who also owns Sports Direct, put Newcastle United up for sale in 2017.

Initial talks appeared to break down in March, however a glossy brochure circulated to potential investors in June suggested the 'Toon' takeover bid was back in motion.

The prospectus, whose contents were revealed by the Sun, suggested that new leadership could lead Newcastle to become “one of the leading clubs in the EPL”.

It further claimed that, with the right backing, the club, which currently is just shy of the relegation zone in 16th place in the Premier League table, could secure a seventh-place finish by 2024.

It’s unknown what stage the deal is at, but the 46-page brochure gave an “anticipated closing date” of September 27.