Ashley tells bank to sell Newcastle

[Lemmy]

Newcastle have appointed London-based investment bank Seymour Pierce to handle the sale of the club.

The chairman of Seymour Pierce is Keith Harris, who was involved in selling Chelsea to Roman Abramovich in 2003.

He also advised in the takeovers of Aston Villa by Randy Lerner and Manchester City by Thaksin Shinawatra.

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley wants to sell the club after fan protests against him following the exit of Kevin Keegan as the manager of the Magpies.

A Newcastle statement said: "The board of Newcastle United can confirm it has appointed the London-based investment bank Seymour Pierce to act on the potential sale of the club.

"All matters relating to the sale of the club, including inquiries from interested parties, should go through Seymour Pierce.

"The club will be making no further comment at this time."

Newcastle have lost their last three games and are currently second-from-bottom of the Premier League.

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Newcastle | Ashley tells bank to sell Magpies

[Lemmy]

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has reduced his asking price for the club from £450m to a figure in the region of £280m to £300m, BBC Sport understands.

Having paid £133m for the club and paid off its loans, a price of £300m would still leave him with a profit of £50m.

"Newcastle is a private company and Ashley has no shareholders to consult before accepting a bid," explained BBC Sports Editor Mihir Bose.

"In that sense the value of Newcastle is whatever he can get on the market."

Ashley only took charge of Newcastle last year but decided to sell after vociferous fan protests following the resignation of manager Kevin Keegan.

Last week, former Wimbledon and Nottingham Forest manager Joe Kinnear was named as the surprise choice of caretaker manager until a new owner can be found.

As many as five bidders, including a Nigerian consortium, are thought to be interested but potential buyers do not have to make a bid yet.

First any buyer must show they have the money, and that is only the first step before facing several other hurdles to make sure the sale takes place.

Despite the club's current plight, being second-bottom of the Premier League, Newcastle could still be an attractive investment opportunity.

St James' Park holds 52,000 fans, with 35,000 of them season-ticket holders, and is currently valued at around £150m.

The playing squad is worth around £100m and has a wage bill of £70m, which is by no means the largest in the Premier League.

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Newcastle | Ashley cuts Newcastle price tag