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One of Britain's wealthiest and most secretive businessmen has made a surprise £133.1 million ($364.14 million) takeover bid for Premiership football club Newcastle United.
Billionaire Mike Ashley earlier said he had bought a 41.6 per cent stake in the club for £55.3 million from the club's biggest shareholder and life president, Sir John Hall.
Ashley, 42, who in February floated his Sports Direct retail business, was ranked at No 25 in this year's Sunday Times Rich List, with a fortune put at £1.9 billion.
He controls a growing empire through his Sports World International group, which includes the Sports World and Lillywhites retail chains, and brands including Dunlop, Slazenger, Lonsdale and Donnay.
Yet he prefers tracksuit pants and T-shirts to a suit and tie, never gives interviews, and avoids being photographed whenever he can.
Even his closest advisers do not know his plans for the club - should his buy-out succeed - and he has been described by Philip Beresford, who compiles the Rich List, as "Britain's answer to the late Howard Hughes".
Newcastle supporters will not necessarily be persuaded that Ashley is the "avid football fan" that one source has suggested.
"He follows England, certainly," the source said, but he had "no affinity to any one team". The source said "this would obviously change if the takeover goes ahead".
But any concerns about Ashley's ability to spend heavily at Newcastle can be put aside. He has never borrowed to build any of his companies and he paid the Hall family in cash.
The prospect that Ashley is therefore well placed to finance major moves in the transfer market and finally awaken Tyneside's sleeping giant is a tantalising one for fans.
But until his takeover goes through, Ashley is saying nothing.
Stock Exchange rules mean he now has to make a cash offer for the remaining shares, of which 29.8 per cent belong to Newcastle's chairman, Freddy Shepherd.
A formal offer document will be posted to shareholders in the next few weeks and shareholders will have a set time to accept or reject Ashley's £1 a share deal.
If things run smoothly, Ashley should take full control before the new Premiership season starts in August, but Shepherd can make or break the deal.
He has shown little inclination to sell, and resisted takeover approaches from the Jersey-based Belgravia Group and the St James' Park Group.
As late as last week, he declared that he was not selling.
But it seems likely that the Hall sale and the fact that Newcastle has debts of about £80 million could change his mind.
- INDEPENDENT
