This big Newcastle United takeover question has been answered – at last

And ironically, the money to buy Newcastle United, or £150million of it, is set to come from Ashley himself.

A new document lodged at Companies House by financier Amanda Staveley last week has shed some light on what have been largely secretive talks.

Ashley, United’s owner, is prepared to loan Staveley that figure to help her buy the club, which was put up for sale in October 2017.

Football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire has analysed the “intriguing” document.

“Effectively, in the best-case scenario this looks to mean that PCP are in takeover talks and that Mike Ashley is lending them £150million to fund the deal,” said Maguire.

Justin Barnes, Ashley’s close associate, has been working on a sale for months. Talks are at an advanced stage – and a sale is closer than ever.

There’s a lot we don’t know about the proposed deal, but the latest Companies House filing is illuminating in the sense that it lays out some of the framework.

However, it doesn’t indicate who is backing Staveley and where the rest of the money is coming from, though Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is on a buying spree, is involved in the bid and is expected to take a majority stake.

Ashley’s retail empire has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic – his Sports Direct shops had to close last month – and cash is king right now. Cash flow is important.

The billionaire, we know, would be prepared to take a down payment and the rest in instalments. This is a way of doing that, though there isn’t yet any clarity on the final price, which would surely reflect the financial uncertainty facing the Premier League, which has been suspended for more than a month and faces a £1billion bill if the season is not restarted.

The deal is not yet done, but it’s seemingly close, and the Premier League have already had some paperwork.

And, crucially, there haven’t been any leaks, which is another positive sign.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

How to subscribe to the print edition

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.