Two 'serious' contenders emerge in Newcastle sale

Two “very serious” contenders to buy Newcastle have emerged and could be in possession of the club by January, according to Keith Harris, chairman of investment bank Seymour Pierce and the man tasked with selling the club.

Harris revealed that out of seven groups who had expressed an interest, just two were left in the running.

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is reportedly seeking £250m (€308m) for the club and while Harris would not name those involved, he believes a sale will go through before January or early in the new year.

Both contenders are from overseas but neither have yet reached the stage of conducting due diligence, the process of looking at the details of the club’s accounts. Both have approached Harris through reputable law firms.

Harris said at the FT Sport Industry Summit in London: “We have two very serious contenders to buy it. This the serious interest stage, and if you don’t have serious interest you don’t have due diligence.

“In a world like this it is no longer people just having a look at the tyres.

“In January we have that month of buying and selling players so I would imagine if I were a prospective owner I would want to own it either in time to have an influence on what happens in January, or at a time when I can assess what has happened in January.”

Harris admitted the financial crisis had made selling the club more difficult but that Ashley was still committed to the sale – for the right price.

He insisted though there had been no attempt so far to seek a much lower sale price.

Harris added: “Mike’s position is straightforward, if he can sell it to the right buyer at the right price he will sell it. The crisis makes everything difficult, we are all affected by it. Any investment decision you take with a lot of analysis and then a big swallow and a big dose of optimism.

“The contenders know what the ball-park figure is. It’s like putting your house up for sale for £200,000 (€246,000) knowing that you will accept £180,000 (€222,000). Has the £200,000 come down to £100,000 (€123,000)? We haven’t experienced that.

“It’s more a question of do I want or need to buy a new house.”

Harris also said many of those prospective bidders who had initially surfaced had swiftly disappeared.

“We have had Nigerians that don’t exist and South Africans told by the media they were bidding,” Harris added.

He also confirmed that the credit crunch means Dubai-based companies are unlikely to move for Premier League clubs at the moment – last month Zabeel Investments pulled out of a takeover of Charlton.

Harris said: “If you analyse the finances of Dubai it is not an oil-owning state, it is a trading state and has relied heavily on Abu Dhabi for its finance so I think it’s no surprise [that is the case].”