Newcastle United are on the verge of a takeover by billionaire businessman Mike Ashley after club chairman Freddy Shepherd agreed to sell his shares to the tycoon on Thursday.
Shepherd will sell his share in the club for more than ?37 million (US$74 million), giving Ashley a stake of almost 70 percent.
Ashley needs a 75 percent stake to assume control, which would make a projected ?133 million complete buy-out almost inevitable.
The takeover would be a massive boost for the Magpies, who despite regularly playing in front of 50,000 fans have not won a major trophy since 1969.
Ashley emerged as a potential new owner when he paid Sir John Hall and his family ?55 million for their 41.6 percent stake last month.
On Thursday the Newcastle board effectively paved the way for the takeover, and Shepherd said the offer from Ashley's company, SJHL (St James Holdings Limited) "is at a level which fully reflects both the performance of Newcastle and its prospects and ambitions for the future."
Shepherd added: "The board believes that SJHL and Mike Ashley will be excellent custodians of Newcastle United's heritage and will provide the best possible opportunity for the club to flourish in the future, to the benefit of the company and its fans."
The recommendation came after SJHL lifted its bid to 101 pence per share for the club.
SJHL said on Thursday it has now received irrevocable acceptances from shareholders who represented some 28 percent of issued capital -- putting its total holding within a whisker of 70 percent.
Ashley is the founder and majority shareholder of the retailer Sports Direct International, which on Wednesday won promotion into the London stock market's second-tier FTSE 250 index.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS