Ashley Hires Bank To Sell Newcastle
Newcastle United has 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 announced that he wants to sell the club after fan protests against him following the exit of Kevin Keegan as the manager of the Magpies.
Ashley is believed to have placed a £481m price tag on the club to potential investors, a profit of £250m on the value at which he took the club over 16 months ago.
The Dubai International Capital investment group has already ruled itself out will investors in India and Japan have also denied speculation linking them to a buyout of the club.
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.’
