Ashley deal will end Shepherd's Newcastle reign

[Jimbo 172]

Ashley deal will end Shepherd's Newcastle reign

By Nick Harris

Published: 25 May 2007

 

Freddy Shepherd will be ousted as the Newcastle United chairman in the near future by the prospective owner, Mike Ashley, irrespective of whether he agrees to sell his 29 per cent stake, The Independent has learnt.

 

Ashley, 42, who amassed his £1.9bn fortune via his Sports World group of retail outlets and major brands, bought 41.6 per cent of the club from Sir John Hall on Wednesday, triggering a takeover bid for the rest of the shares.

 

Shepherd, who is in hospital recovering from pneumonia and a collapsed lung, seemed to be in a fighting mood when he said: "There is nothing Mike Ashley can do with this club unless he gets a 75 per cent stake. He can't take full control."

 

A club source also told the local Chronicle newspaper: "Freddy is saddened by the news [of Ashley's share purchase]... All the negotiations have been done without his knowledge. He feels like he has been stabbed in the back."

 

But Ashley only needs to cross the 50 per cent threshold to gain day-to-day control, including the power to change the board. Shepherd effectively faces a decision to either sell out and pocket around £39m, or refuse to sell and face the ignominy of having no influence.

 

Ashley's City advisers are working on the "reasonable assumption" that Newcastle's institutional shareholders (who hold around 20 per cent of the stock) will accept his 100p-per-share offer, as will many of the supporter-shareholders, who hold 10 per cent. That will give Ashley between 60 and 70 per cent of the company.

 

Ashley hopes Shepherd will sell his own stake and quietly move aside, but if Shepherd does not, sources say Ashley will press ahead with running the club as he sees fit anyway.

 

"Anywhere above 50 per cent ownership will give Mike effective control of the club," a source said. "Even if Freddy Shepherd does not sell, he will have no meaningful involvement."

 

Shepherd's health problems make it unlikely that he will make any decisions on his shareholding until the middle of next week at the earliest.

 

Ashley needs Shepherd's shares to surpass the 75 per cent holding that would allow him to delist the club from the Stock Exchange. Being a listed company costs money (several million pounds), and obliges Newcastle to report to the City twice a year and produce an annual report. These would be inconveniences that Shepherd would enforce by holding his stake, but not be obstacles to Ashley's long-term plans.

 

Ashley is happy to leave Newcastle's new manager, Sam Allardyce, in charge, and will probably back him heavily in the transfer market this summer. But he has yet to make public any other plans for the club's future.

 

It is not known whether he will press ahead with the proposed £300m development of St James' Park announced by Shepherd last month. That involved an expansion in capacity to at least 60,000 seats, as well as the construction of a conference centre, two hotels and an apartment block. No planning application has been submitted.

 

The main attraction of the club, aside from the lucrative new television deals that kick in next season, is its huge local pulling power and its potential as a global brand.

[trophyshy 7066]

Jimbo in terms of updating us all you're a bit of a ledge mate.

 

who needs newsnow?!

 

[Kid Dynamite 6968]

Shepherd needs to take a step back and look at things sensibly. He can put some spin on this, make £38mil and walk away with a thanks from the fans for the money hes put into the club and the few good seasons we had

 

OR . . . .

 

He can hold out, lose anyway, disrupt our off season plans and be even more hated by the fans.

[Dr Gloom 21760]

Shepherd needs to take a step back and look at things sensibly. He can put some spin on this, make £38mil and walk away with a thanks from the fans for the money hes put into the club and the few good seasons we had

 

OR . . . .

 

He can hold out, lose anyway, disrupt our off season plans and be even more hated by the fans.

 

and yet still worshipped by leazesmag and howaythelads.

[Craig 6670]

Whatever happens, Shepherd is going to lose control of the club and have no influence on its progression.

 

The way I see it is it's not going to be a case of Shepherd or Ashley running the club, it's a case of Ashley running it as a private or a public company.

 

This is one battle Mr Shepherd is never going to win.

[curry stained pilchard 0]

Here's hoping FF doesn't reach 51% before Ashley...

[Craig 6670]

Here's hoping FF doesn't reach 51% before Ashley...

 

I doubt very much that'll happen. As Ashley has nearly 42%, there's only 58% remaining. We can pretty much guarantee from public opinion and the poll in the Chronicle that the fans, who have 8% are not going to be backing Shepherd and he'd almost certainly need some of their support.

[Jill 0]

A club source also told the local Chronicle newspaper: "Freddy is saddened by the news [of Ashley's share purchase]... All the negotiations have been done without his knowledge. He feels like he has been stabbed in the back."

 

Chin up Fatty.

[sandman02uk 0]

A club source also told the local Chronicle newspaper: "Freddy is saddened by the news [of Ashley's share purchase]... All the negotiations have been done without his knowledge. He feels like he has been stabbed in the back."

 

Fuck off man this is business, not the play ground