Guest antz1uk Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/11363931/Mike-Ashley-just-made-his-biggest-Sports-Direct-decision-in-eight-years-and-no-one-knows-what-it-was.html Mike Ashley is a maverick, but even by his usual standards, the tycoon’s latest move is baffling. Ashley has moved a controlling stake in Sports Direct from his investment vehicle Mash Holdings to a newly-formed vehicle called Mash Beta. This stake amounts to 50.71pc of Sport Direct, which is worth a not-too-shabby £2.2bn. But before you think that Ashley has just given up control of Sports Direct, the newly formed Mash Beta is a subsidiary of Mash Holdings and therefore owned by the tycoon. A glance at Companies House shows Ashley created a chain of new entities in December. This includes Mash Beta – the entity that now controls 50.71pc of Sports Direct – whose sole director is Ashley and its secretary is Dave Forsey, chief executive of Sports Direct. The shareholders of Mash Beta are listed as Mash Holdings and another new vehicle, Mash Alpha. Again, the sole director of Mash Alpha is Ashley and the secretary is - yes, you’ve guessed it - Forsey. The one difference is that Mash Alpha does not have any shareholders and is instead a private limited company backed by a guarantee from Mash Holdings. The registered offices for Masha Alpha and Mash Beta are both given as Unit A, Brook Park East, Mansfield, otherwise known as the headquarters of Sports Direct. Confused? Well, the plot actually thickens because Ashley has not put his entire stake into the new Mash Beta. He has kept 4.43pc of Sports Direct in Mash Holdings itself and sold a 2.57pc stake worth £117m through Goldman Sachs, a move confirmed by the retailer in a separate statement. So, after all that, Ashley still has his hands on a 55.14pc stake in Sports Direct. But what is the elusive billionaire really up to? His representatives say it is a “personal matter” and a “reorganisation” of his holdings but that they cannot provide any more details. The man himself has barely spoken in public since making himself a billionaire by floating Sports Direct in March 2007. After the IPO, the tycoon got into trouble as concerns grew about corporate governance at Sports Direct. Stories emerged that he had used a card game to settle a disputed £200,000 bill with his bankers, Merrill Lynch, and lost. Meanwhile, Ashley bought shares in key suppliers Adidas and Umbro without prior warning, and Sports Direct’s first non-executive chairman left within three months of the company floating. As the relationship between the City and Ashley broke down, the tycoon called “these City people” a “bunch of crybabies” and warned them that he had “balls of steel”. At Sports Direct’s first annual meeting in September 2007, he said that he was finding public life “very challenging, especially the procedures”. But rather than give up and take Sports Direct private again – as many suggested at the time he would – Ashley dug in and became more stubborn. Since the brief words at the company’s 2007 meeting, Ashley has not been heard in public. At the most recent Sports Direct shareholder meeting, the tycoon started blankly across the room as journalists tried to ask him questions. This tactic has worked, judging from Sports Direct’s share price. After floating at 300p, it hit a low of 32p in late 2008 before surging to a high of 922p in April 2014 as the company’s sales and profits rose thanks to an innovative staff bonus scheme and the demise of key rival JJB. However, they have fallen back since and on Thursday closed at 725.50p. Ashley turned 50 last September, but the milestone birthday and the improvement in Sports Direct shares do not appear to have encouraged him to open up. He is tight-lipped about his share manoeuverings, just as he is about his plans for Newcastle United, the football club he owns, and the reasons behind his recent investments in Rangers FC, House of Fraser and Tesco. So, we can only speculate on the reasons behind the dealings. Ashley has regularly sold shares in Sports Direct over the past few years, often in larger chunks than the £117m just placed with Goldman Sachs. However, analysts at Barclays have noted that the funds raised by this sale look suspiciously like the amount of money Ashley would need to personally buy out Sports Direct’s exposure to department store Debenhams. Sports Direct said in November that it is exposed to a 12.7pc stake in Debenhams via put options that were written by the sportswear group and give it the right to buy shares in the retailer. Another theory is that the sale is linked to Ashley’s battle to gain influence at Rangers, where he has built a 8.92pc stake and had a request to increase his holding to 29.9pc rejected by the Scottish Football Association. Ashley has also claimed control of Rangers’ famous stadium, Ibrox, by loaning the football club money and claiming the ground as security. But the shifting of the majority 50.71pc stake in Sports Direct is even more perplexing. If it was a simple tidying up exercise, why has Ashley left 4.43pc of Sports Direct in Mash Holdings? Here are a few suggestions about his reasons. One, Ashley is managing his tax bill. Two, he faces a family issue and is restructuring his shareholding. Three, in the future he is planning to down his stake in Sports Direct by disposing of chunks of Mash Beta rather than the retailer itself. Four, he is readying his finances in preparation for doing something very big. The final option, of course, is that there is nothing in Ashley’s latest antics. In the past, Ashley has invested in Tesco, House of Fraser, Debenhams, Black’s Leisure, MySale and more without prior warning. Some in the retail industry believe he placed his bets on Tesco and Debenhams simply because he was bored and fancied a punt. The tycoon has shown he is tough to second guess, and even harder to shift from his views on doing business. His peers in the retail industry regard him as a genius, particularly on logistics and how he revolutionised the sports retail sector by buying up own brands – such as Dunlop, Slazenger and Lonsdale – to sit alongside adidas and Nike. Ashley is also ruthless, as the 88 staff who lost their job at fashion chain USC would testify after Sports Direct dumped part of the business into administration and closed its Scottish warehouse. So, he is unlikely to have wasted time moving around shareholdings for no reason. We may find out the answer soon. 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mrmojorisin75 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/337/tuckerwtf.png I'm blaming this on him, RT by official account. who do we have in charge of promotions and marketing man? jesus christ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Probably a work experience kid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 the shit on the chalkboard got me real good man, Big Bazza Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 ERE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie1892 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 http://www.cityam.com/207730/newcastle-named-19th-richest-club-world-how-much-mike-ashleys-money-goes-transfers another article i know we are doing well on this side of the business with Ashley and im all for that in my opinion but i do wish he would just chuck a hundred million at our playing side and go for it. However im glad we arent Aston Villa, if they go down they are fucked and i hope they do Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliottman Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 http://www.cityam.com/207730/newcastle-named-19th-richest-club-world-how-much-mike-ashleys-money-goes-transfers another article i know we are doing well on this side of the business with Ashley and im all for that in my opinion but i do wish he would just chuck a hundred million at our playing side and go for it. However im glad we arent Aston Villa, if they go down they are f***ed and i hope they do Not even a hundred million, just a quality centre half and centre forward to go with a manager and the majority of us would be fairly happy. Its frustrating when clearly we are capable of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie1892 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 http://www.cityam.com/207730/newcastle-named-19th-richest-club-world-how-much-mike-ashleys-money-goes-transfers another article i know we are doing well on this side of the business with Ashley and im all for that in my opinion but i do wish he would just chuck a hundred million at our playing side and go for it. However im glad we arent Aston Villa, if they go down they are f***ed and i hope they do Not even a hundred million, just a quality centre half and centre forward to go with a manager and the majority of us would be fairly happy. Its frustrating when clearly we are capable of it. IMHO, we need two centre halfs as colo is regularly done by centre forwards these days We need a decent something to replace gouffran because i dont know quite what he is other than shite (not ben arfa tho before his loyal fanboys pipe up on here) we need a loic remy type of striker. On that note i would have been happy if he had chucked the money at remy to make him stay but clearly he wanted to be in that there London and not here. also to keep building we need to throw money at Krul to get him to sign a big contract and the likes of sissoko but currently they are the only two unreplaceables in our team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
loki679 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 http://www.cityam.com/207730/newcastle-named-19th-richest-club-world-how-much-mike-ashleys-money-goes-transfers another article i know we are doing well on this side of the business with Ashley and im all for that in my opinion but i do wish he would just chuck a hundred million at our playing side and go for it. However im glad we arent Aston Villa, if they go down they are f***ed and i hope they do Not even a hundred million, just a quality centre half and centre forward to go with a manager and the majority of us would be fairly happy. Its frustrating when clearly we are capable of it. That's it like. I don't even want him to put any of his other money in, just let the club spend what it makes. Sure we'd be able to tempt a decent standard of manager if they thought they'd have a £50m starting transfer budget. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sempuki Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Great article by Colin Murray on Ashley this morning in the Metro. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Colin Murray always seems to get it spot on when he talks about us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonlemagnifique Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Great article by Colin Murray on Ashley this morning in the Metro. http://i.imgur.com/Qo5ruAq.jpg limited the picture to make it more readable Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Good piece that. Glad the media are taking notice of our 'designed' underachievement and questioning Ashley's ownership of the club a bit more lately. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beren Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Can't believe with all his wealth he's yet to pay someone to get him in an unghastly shape. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanj Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Or have an incredibly fit gold digging lass Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro111 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Colin Murray is class tbf. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Or have an incredibly fit gold digging lass He does. Or did. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanj Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Or have an incredibly fit gold digging lass He does. Or did. Oh nice Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TruToon94 Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 When you're worth six billion what's a couple of extra million? I doubt if he sold up he'd even feel the pinch on his wallet. Does having the marketing around St James even make that much of a difference? Him and Rupert Murdoch may be the two men in the world who can legitimately claim to be super-villiains. Ashley must feed on our misery because I can't see why he wants us! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggs Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 What is the significance of 2016 for Cashley re evaluating owning us and thats a genuine question as i cannot see why he would sell when we are an easy money maker with tv money and 50k every home game Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 What is the significance of 2016 for Cashley re evaluating owning us and thats a genuine question as i cannot see why he would sell when we are an easy money maker with tv money and 50k every home game Arbitory date that isn't soon. See we want to be like Villa, Arsenal, Southampton in our 3,4,5,8 year plan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 I hope the fat bastard has a long and painful lingering illness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mofo Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Colin Murray is class tbf. Really like the bloke. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokko Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Colin Murray is class tbf. Really like the bloke. The prick that used to belittle, have snide digs and snear at us on ch5 when we were in Europe? Aye, sound as fuck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallace Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 What is the significance of 2016 for Cashley re evaluating owning us and thats a genuine question as i cannot see why he would sell when we are an easy money maker with tv money and 50k every home game Arbitory date that isn't soon. See we want to be like Villa, Arsenal, Southampton in our 3,4,5,8 year plan. Apart from linking it to when Rangers might be in the Champions League, I wondered whether they just came up with a date to quell the disquiet at the time. If the fans think he is on his way in a couple of years, then they will put up and shut up for the duration. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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