***Official Takeover Talk Thread***

[sempuki]

Newcastle's business ventures could see stakes rise to £240m

 

 

Michael Walker and Ewan Murray

Friday December 8, 2006

The Guardian

 

 

The Belgravia Group, a Jersey-based business considering a takeover of Newcastle United, is understood to have made solid progress over the past few weeks in its discussions with the club.

Belgravia has been studying the club's books and has now reached a stage where it is assessing if, when and how to make a successful bid to take control at St James' Park. It appears Belgravia is satisfied with the initial part of its audit but a city source said it is not a question of moving from there to an immediate offer for the shareholdings of the Hall family (41%) and the chairman, Freddy Shepherd (29%).

 

 

An estimated fee for the club is £150m but it is believed there is a simultaneous negotiation relating to possible business ventures surrounding the club. That could take the price towards £240m. Belgravia and Newcastle United plc refused to confirm yesterday whether Shepherd had met the senior figures of Belgravia. Both parties seem keen to continue talks in private despite impatience on Tyneside for a resolution to something first announced on August 21.

[Baggio]

Not really telling us anything new.

[Guest DazzaNufc1892]

well it is really, since we now know that the books look good enough for a bid to be made, because i for 1 was always dubious with regards to that, because with how much we've spent, it could have seemed too much of an unsure investment, maybe things are rosier at the club than we first thought

[indi]

well it is really, since we now know that the books look good enough for a bid to be made, because i for 1 was always dubious with regards to that, because with how much we've spent, it could have seemed too much of an unsure investment, maybe things are rosier at the club than we first thought

 

Also, Shepherd has previously come out and stated that he has definitely not met with them, if he (the club) is now refusing to say whether, or not, he has met them, that is a change and it means he has met them. Progress has been made.

[Rob W]

Article in the Times this morning saying belgravia are close to a deal

 

See sepertate thread about value of Clubs as well  in the Indie

 

"NUFS "ripe for takeover due to a combination of crap management, large & loyal support, guaranteed revenue streams and brand possibilities"

[James]

http://football.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1967048,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=5

 

From Belgravia to Brunei in blink of an eye

 

 

Harry Pearson

Friday December 8, 2006

The Guardian

 

In this merry season of goodwill and takeovers to all men, something called the Belgravia Group is said to be interested in buying Newcastle United. I have no idea who or what the Belgravia Group is, but the name has a certain louche charm. I imagine a cabal of raffish ex-cavalry officers in Savile Row suits, fronted by Terry-Thomas and Lord Lucan.

 

I suggested this to a friend who is a season-ticket holder at St James' Park. "It's possible, I suppose," he replied. "Though the name could just be an attempt to add a patina of caddish glamour. You know how hairdressers in crumpling post-industrial towns are called things like Alfredo Di Milano, even though it's actually a bloke called Sid from Ormskirk? Well, this could be the same type of gimmick. It sounds posh, but they're actually just a luxury coach hire company from Accrington.

 

Article continues

"Is there any other type of coach than a luxury coach, by the way? I mean, you never see an advert that reads 'Put your trust in Briggs's, the Bog Standard Coach Hire Experts', do you? It's like peas. They're always 'garden peas' even if the 'garden' they come from is a 500-acre field in Lincolnshire."

 

My friend doesn't actually believe either of these things, however. (I mean the things about the Belgravia Group, not the stuff about luxury coaches and garden peas, which truths we hold to be self-evident, obviously.) What he thinks is that the Belgravia Group is a front. He thinks they are really working for "an extremely wealthy Far Eastern investor".

 

"Oh no, not that Sultan of bloody Brunei business again," I said when he told me. "You've been going on about that since Jimmy Hill had a beard."

 

"He's big mates with Kevin Keegan, apparently," my friend said.

 

"How do you know that?"

 

"It's well known," he said, defiantly. "It's on all the message boards."

 

Ah, so it must be true then. Not that you need message boards in Newcastle to learn of the Sultan of Brunei's putative shock swoop. When it comes to football the city is like one huge information superhighway with every citizen a whizzing megabyte of definitely-know-it-for-a-fact-take-it-from-me information. You can hardly walk out the front door without hearing the incontrovertible truth behind Kieron Dyer's injury woes.

 

Partly this is because people in the north-east like to chat. I used to think I talked a lot. Then I moved to Northumberland. Now I regard myself as laconic. Mainly, though, it is because the very air seems to vibrate with rumours about the goings on at St James', which to Tyneside is the Kremlin, Hollywood and Pete Doherty rolled into one. Take a deep breath and your lungs are filled with tales of transfers, transvestism and lurid episodes in private rooms that conclude with the words, ". . . and from what I heard, that poodle belonged to the Bishop of Durham".

 

Whatever the story, one thing that you can rely on is that it will not have arrived at the teller's door directly. No, it will have come via a route as long and circuitous as a Garth Crooks question, via window cleaners, bikini-waxers, barmen and billiard-hall attendants, bouncers and blokes who once knocked about with a lad who was in E Wing with the second cousin of the arresting officer. And far from detracting from the validity of his tale, the teller's removal from it serves only to add to its veracity in the minds of all who hear it, which is everybody. Empiricism has no place in the world of football rumour.

 

Not that Newcastle fans are alone in this, I should say. A few years ago, a top BBC political journalist told me a deep secret about goings on at No 10 and when asked where the story came from replied: "My wife's hairdresser. She knows the sister-in-law through the school PTA."

 

He was entirely serious. In fact, I suspect this kind of belief in the extended rumour trail is common in all walks of life. It's entirely possible that when Tony Blair told the nation about the intelligence sources that confirmed Saddam's possession of WMDs he was actually talking about a cleaning woman from Purley, whose son's mate Kev was on the oil rigs with a bloke from Basra.

 

To be honest, I don't have much faith in this latest blast of takeover talk. It seems to me that for every foreign billionaire who actually buys a British football club there are a several hundred who simply hop about on the fringes, waving their money in a will-he-or-won't-he fashion. Some of them are plainly sadists using their vast wealth to torment supporters of financially blighted clubs with the prospect of a bright future.

 

One of them, a Turkmen gas mogul - who cannot be named because it is too hard to spell - has even spoken out on the subject, saying: "As a boy I dreamed of being spuriously linked with a struggling English team just long enough for their long-suffering supporters to begin fantasising about a forward line of Klose, Ronaldinho and Totti before suddenly disappearing, never to be heard of again. And I know that for a fact because the bloke who told me once went out with a woman whose ex-husband . . . "

[Kitman]

http://football.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1967048,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=5

 

From Belgravia to Brunei in blink of an eye

 

 

Harry Pearson

Friday December 8, 2006

The Guardian

 

In this merry season of goodwill and takeovers to all men, something called the Belgravia Group is said to be interested in buying Newcastle United. I have no idea who or what the Belgravia Group is, but the name has a certain louche charm. I imagine a cabal of raffish ex-cavalry officers in Savile Row suits, fronted by Terry-Thomas and Lord Lucan.

 

I suggested this to a friend who is a season-ticket holder at St James' Park. "It's possible, I suppose," he replied. "Though the name could just be an attempt to add a patina of caddish glamour. You know how hairdressers in crumpling post-industrial towns are called things like Alfredo Di Milano, even though it's actually a bloke called Sid from Ormskirk? Well, this could be the same type of gimmick. It sounds posh, but they're actually just a luxury coach hire company from Accrington.

 

Article continues

"Is there any other type of coach than a luxury coach, by the way? I mean, you never see an advert that reads 'Put your trust in Briggs's, the Bog Standard Coach Hire Experts', do you? It's like peas. They're always 'garden peas' even if the 'garden' they come from is a 500-acre field in Lincolnshire."

 

My friend doesn't actually believe either of these things, however. (I mean the things about the Belgravia Group, not the stuff about luxury coaches and garden peas, which truths we hold to be self-evident, obviously.) What he thinks is that the Belgravia Group is a front. He thinks they are really working for "an extremely wealthy Far Eastern investor".

 

"Oh no, not that Sultan of bloody Brunei business again," I said when he told me. "You've been going on about that since Jimmy Hill had a beard."

 

"He's big mates with Kevin Keegan, apparently," my friend said.

 

"How do you know that?"

 

"It's well known," he said, defiantly. "It's on all the message boards."

 

Ah, so it must be true then. Not that you need message boards in Newcastle to learn of the Sultan of Brunei's putative shock swoop. When it comes to football the city is like one huge information superhighway with every citizen a whizzing megabyte of definitely-know-it-for-a-fact-take-it-from-me information. You can hardly walk out the front door without hearing the incontrovertible truth behind Kieron Dyer's injury woes.

 

Partly this is because people in the north-east like to chat. I used to think I talked a lot. Then I moved to Northumberland. Now I regard myself as laconic. Mainly, though, it is because the very air seems to vibrate with rumours about the goings on at St James', which to Tyneside is the Kremlin, Hollywood and Pete Doherty rolled into one. Take a deep breath and your lungs are filled with tales of transfers, transvestism and lurid episodes in private rooms that conclude with the words, ". . . and from what I heard, that poodle belonged to the Bishop of Durham".

 

Whatever the story, one thing that you can rely on is that it will not have arrived at the teller's door directly. No, it will have come via a route as long and circuitous as a Garth Crooks question, via window cleaners, bikini-waxers, barmen and billiard-hall attendants, bouncers and blokes who once knocked about with a lad who was in E Wing with the second cousin of the arresting officer. And far from detracting from the validity of his tale, the teller's removal from it serves only to add to its veracity in the minds of all who hear it, which is everybody. Empiricism has no place in the world of football rumour.

 

Not that Newcastle fans are alone in this, I should say. A few years ago, a top BBC political journalist told me a deep secret about goings on at No 10 and when asked where the story came from replied: "My wife's hairdresser. She knows the sister-in-law through the school PTA."

 

He was entirely serious. In fact, I suspect this kind of belief in the extended rumour trail is common in all walks of life. It's entirely possible that when Tony Blair told the nation about the intelligence sources that confirmed Saddam's possession of WMDs he was actually talking about a cleaning woman from Purley, whose son's mate Kev was on the oil rigs with a bloke from Basra.

 

To be honest, I don't have much faith in this latest blast of takeover talk. It seems to me that for every foreign billionaire who actually buys a British football club there are a several hundred who simply hop about on the fringes, waving their money in a will-he-or-won't-he fashion. Some of them are plainly sadists using their vast wealth to torment supporters of financially blighted clubs with the prospect of a bright future.

 

One of them, a Turkmen gas mogul - who cannot be named because it is too hard to spell - has even spoken out on the subject, saying: "As a boy I dreamed of being spuriously linked with a struggling English team just long enough for their long-suffering supporters to begin fantasising about a forward line of Klose, Ronaldinho and Totti before suddenly disappearing, never to be heard of again. And I know that for a fact because the bloke who told me once went out with a woman whose ex-husband . . . "

 

That article is a master class on filling a page without actually saying anything of any interest

[James]

The Newcastle takeover is in every paper this morning - looks like someone high up has put the word out.

 

Mirror

 

NO MR BIG BUT £150M TOON BID IS 'SERIOUS'

By Simon Bird

 

FREDDY SHEPHERd has been assured that the Belgravia Group are totally "serious" about pushing through a £150million-plus takeover of Newcastle United.

 

There will be "no magic individual" unveiled by the Jersey investment group to front the bid - unlike Liverpool's proposed £450million takeover by Arab Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, one of the world's richest men.

 

But the bid is reaching a critical stage.

 

Advertisement

 

Newcastle have opened up their accounts to Belgravia, who are understood to have completed their "due diligence", checking the finances are in order before agreeing a final price.

 

Chairman Shepherd has held meetings with Belgravia in London over the sale of his 28 per cent stake - but has claimed they are not coming up with the right cash.

 

Sir John Hall and son Douglas have also been in lengthy talks over cashing in on their 40 per cent holding.

 

Belgravia, a "discreet" investment group, are keen take full control in the next few weeks - despite sceptics claiming they are not serious

[Rob W]

"times" says the accountants are about halfway thru the due diligence

[Kitman]

"times" says the accountants are about halfway thru the due diligence

 

Plenty of deals fall down at the due diligence stage.  It's the equivalent of kicking the tyres and looking under the bonnet.  There's a long way to go before they agree a deal by the sound of it.

[lovejoy]

progress appears to be being made though.

 

 

i think its going ot be an interesting few weeks

[Kitman]

progress appears to be being made though.

 

 

i think its going ot be an interesting few weeks

 

They'll do well to complete by the end of January, especially if due diligence is only half way complete and they've yet to agree a price with the Halls and Freddy.  I wonder if this'll affect January transfers?

[Guest Nufc_Kev_Smb]

Seems there still sniffing around eh lads, Hopefully this is true

 

FAT FRED OOT!

 

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/news_detail.html?sku=730

[Guest elbee909]

Seems there still sniffing around eh lads, Hopefully this is true

 

FAT FRED OOT!

 

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/news_detail.html?sku=730

 

Old article, 17/11

 

[Newcastle Fan]

COMON NOW!!

 

never in my life did i saw a take over THAT LONG!!

 

u want us,come get us,ur not sure,F**K OFF!!

[indi]

COMON NOW!!

 

never in my life did i saw a take over THAT LONG!!

 

u want us,come get us,ur not sure,F**K OFF!!

 

Why, would you go out and spend £250,000,000 on a whim, like?

 

 

[The Bonk]

COMON NOW!!

 

never in my life did i saw a take over THAT LONG!!

 

u want us,come get us,ur not sure,F**K OFF!!

 

Why, would you go out and spend £250,000,000 on a whim, like?

 

 

 

 

Haha...  maybe the soccer master is Bill Gates in disguise and spends that amount on a weekend away.  :winking:

 

 

Good point though, Indigo. 

[Ally]

"times" says the accountants are about halfway thru the due diligence

 

Indeed.

 

Belgravia prepares to show hand after dogged Newcastle pursuit

George Caulkin

While potential or actual investment in Liverpool, West Ham United and now Manchester City may have grasped the headlines away from Newcastle United, the Belgravia Group has made some quiet progress in its attempts to buy the club. With the process of due diligence — looking at the books — partially complete, a formal bid is regarded as imminent.

 

Freddy Shepherd, the Newcastle chairman, has been reluctant to disclose details of Belgravia’s involvement, and there is a body of opinion at St James’ Park that doubts whether an offer will be made, but the Jersey-based investment company, which has been in discussions with the Barclays Premiership club for seven months, is at the stage of constructing a deal.

 

Whether anything substantive will follow remains uncertain, but while the beginning of due diligence does not have to be announced to the Stock Exchange — hence Newcastle’s silence on the matter — the cost of undertaking such a step runs into many thousands. The worth of Belgravia doing so if its intentions were not genuine appears limited.

 

The complexities of finalising an offer that could run to £150 million are immense. It is understood that Shepherd, who has a 28 per cent stake in the club, has held meetings with Belgravia officials in London, where they have an office, but there is also the 40 per cent holding of the Hall family to contend with. The Halls are believed to be more eager to sell than Shepherd. Newcastle declined to comment.

 

In the terms of a takeover, imminent implies within the coming weeks as opposed to days. It is unlikely that there will be developments before Newcastle’s annual meeting, to be held in London on Tuesday, December 19, when Shepherd can expect to be questioned at length about the situation.

 

Ideally, Belgravia would wish to have an outline agreement in place before the closure of the transfer window at the end of next month.

[Decky]

NO MR BIG BUT £150M TOON BID IS 'SERIOUS'

By Simon Bird

 

FREDDY SHEPHERD has been assured that the Belgravia Group are totally "serious" about pushing through a £150million-plus takeover of Newcastle United.

 

There will be "no magic individual" unveiled by the Jersey investment group to front the bid - unlike Liverpool's proposed £450million takeover by Arab Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, one of the world's richest men.

 

But the bid is reaching a critical stage.

 

Newcastle have opened up their accounts to Belgravia, who are understood to have completed their "due diligence", checking the finances are in order before agreeing a final price.

 

 

Chairman Shepherd has held meetings with Belgravia in London over the sale of his 28 per cent stake - but has claimed they are not coming up with the right cash.

 

 

Sir John Hall and son Douglas have also been in lengthy talks over cashing in on their 40 per cent holding.

 

 

Belgravia, a "discreet" investment group, are keen take full control in the next few weeks - despite sceptics claiming they are not serious.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=no-mr-big-but--pound-150m-toon-bid-is--serious-%26method=full%26objectid=18229862%26siteid=94762-name_page.html

[Decky]

i wonder if theres anything to that story i just posted, maybe Belgravia are interested in having total control in time for buying in January? this could be bad, Freddy may be reluctant to spend in January with a takeover imminent and the talks could run through to the end of January and its too late.

[James]

A second name has entered the frame according to todays Sunday Express:

 

US tycoon George Gillett, who has accepted defeat with his attempted Liverpool bid.

[S.S.R.]

Gillet, is that the best that we can get?

[sempuki]

Gillet, is that the best that we can get?

 

Puntastic!

[S.S.R.]

We're going to start playing with five up front,with one little precise one at the back.

[lovejoy]

the article seems to suggest that he will mount his offer 'within weeks' and freddy wants to sell to him over belgravia because he will offer significant investment into the team, which he doesnt believe belgravia can.

 

its in a few papers today this story, express even claims gillett's son is called 'geordie'