LONDON: The protracted sale of Premier League club Newcastle United is nearing its conclusion, according to reports.
The British media is reporting that the £300m ($400 million) deal to purchase the northeast England club by PCP Capital Partners has progressed significantly over the last 24 hours after the group, led by financier Amanda Staveley, increased their offer by around £50 million. It has been widely reported that Arabian Gulf money would be used to fund the takeover.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and Staveley, the financial entrepreneur who has around $37 billion of Middle Eastern wealth under management, met in London last week to thrash out the finer details of the deal, with Ashley reportedly keen to ensure his company, Sports Direct, is allowed to continue advertising at St. James’ Park, the club’s ground, and that he would be reimbursed should he, as seems likely, fund the spend on the team in the January window next month.
Staveley, the British businesswoman, is the key player in the deal. She helped broker the £210 million deal for Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour to buy Manchester City in 2008 and was earlier this year linked with a deal for Liverpool Football Club, where she was marginally involved in an abortive takeover by Dubai investors in 2007. She was also said to be interested in doing a deal with Tottenham Hotspur, the north London club.
She told Arab News in June that she saw English football as an “attractive investment,” but is believed to have grown interested in Newcastle since then. Newcastle were put up for sale by Ashley in October in order to, according to a club statement, “give the club the best possible opportunity of securing the positioning and investment necessary to take it to the next level, at what is an important time in its history, its present ownership has determined that it is in the best interests of Newcastle United and its for the club to be put up for sale.”
Ashley purchased the club in 2007 for £134 million and tried to sell it in 2009 but failed to find a suitable buyer.
Newcastle United takeover close after improved Gulf-backed bid of $400m
Newcastle United takeover close after improved Gulf-backed bid of $400m
Barcelona pounces on Real Madrid stumble and regains lead of La Liga with a 3-0 win over Levante
- Barcelona moved one point ahead of Madrid, which had won eight in a row in the league before losing to Osasuna
MADRID: Barcelona took advantage of Real Madrid’s stumble and regained the Spanish league lead with a comfortable 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Levante on Sunday.
Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong and Fermín López scored a goal each as Barcelona ended a two-game losing streak to get back in front of rival Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Osasuna on Saturday.
Barcelona moved one point ahead of Madrid, which had won eight in a row in the league before losing to Osasuna.
Barcelona was coming off a 2-1 loss to Girona in the league and a 4-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.
“It was important to win and earn three points again,” Barcelona defender João Cancelo said. “Soccer gives you these opportunities to rebound and that’s what we did today, playing well again after two bad games.”
Barcelona had earned a clean sheet only once in its previous six games in all competitions.
Good start for Barcelona
Bernal scored from close range four minutes into the match at the Camp Nou Stadium. The 18-year-old Bernal had scored his first goal with the first team two rounds ago in a win over Mallorca.
“They had an early chance but my goal helped us settle and gain some confidence,” Bernal said.
De Jong added to the lead from inside the area in the 32nd and López sealed the victory with a beautiful long-range shot in the 81st, with the ball ricocheting off the post before going into the net.
Levante’s Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan kept Barcelona from adding the fourth with a pair of outstanding saves in a row in the final minutes, first off a header by Raphinha and then off a point-blank strike from López on the rebound.
It was the fourth straight defeat for Levante, which sits in 19th place. It is one point ahead of last-place Oviedo, which has a game in hand.
Levante has only one victory in its last eight matches.
Pedri entered the match in the 66th to make his return to action after an injury layoff.
Other results
Sevilla won 1-0 at 10-man Getafe for its second win in its last 10 matches in all competitions.
Djibril Sow scored a 64th-minute winner for the visitors. Getafe played a man down from the 26th after a straight red card for Djene Dakonam.
The result left Sevilla in 11th place, immediately above Getafe.
Third-place Villarreal, Barcelona’s next league opponent, can restore a three-point gap to fourth-place Atletico Madrid if it beats Valencia at home later Sunday. Atletico beat Espanyol 4-2 at home on Saturday.
