- St James Holdings
St James Holdings Limited is a company set up by tycoon Mike Ashley, specifically to acquire
shares ofNewcastle United Football Club. The company name is a reference toSt James' Park , the stadium of Newcastle United.2007 Newcastle United takeover bid
; 23 MayOn 23 May 2007 English businessman Mike Ashley bought John Hall's stake in the club of 41.6% for £55m and then launched a formal takeover bid at 100p per share, On 23 May 2007, Ashley bought 41.6% of
Newcastle United F.C (Sir John Hall's stake) at one pound per share, for a total cost of £55,342,223cite news |title=Billionaire Ashley launches Newcastle takeover |url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=432896&cc=5901 |publisher=ESPN.com |date=2007-05-23 |accessdate=2007-05-23 |language=English] .This was a 14% rise on the price at closing on the London Stock Exchange the day before. Chairman Freddy Shepherd, who was in hospital at the time of the bid suffering from a punctured lung, said that he planned to fight the takeover and not allow Mike Ashley to get his hands on his 29.8%.Under the terms of UK takeover law, having purchased more than 30% of a listed company, he was obliged to make an offer to buy the remaining shares at the same or a greater price.
; 31 MayOn 31 May it was reported that the Newcastle board were considering Ashley's offer. [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/6693039.stm |date=2007-05-31 |title=Newcastle consider Ashley offer |date=2007-05-31 |accessdate=2007-05-31 |publisher=BBC Sport] It is widely believed that Mike Ashley then owned around a 54% stake in the club meaning that Freddy Shepherd's 29.8% was then useless and he could have been removed from his position as chairman by the new majority shareholders.
; 7 JuneOn the 7 June 2007
Freddy Shepherd and "Shepherd Offshore Services Ltd." agreed to sell their stake in Newcastle United and released a statement urging other shareholders to do the same. [cite news |title=Ashley to take over Newcastle Utd |work=BBC News |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date= 2007-06-07 |url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6729215.stm |accessdate=2007-06-17 |quote=Billionaire businessman Mike Ashley is set to take control of Newcastle United after chairman Freddy Shepherd agreed to sell his 28% stake in the club. Mr Ashley, who runs the Sportsworld chain and Lillywhites, is to pay £37.6m for the shares - a move that values the club at £131m... The Newcastle United board has urged other shareholders to accept Mr Ashley's 101 pence-per-share offer.] It was announced that Shepherd would remain in the role of chairman.cite web |title=Shepherd sells for £37m but remains Newcastle chairman |work=football.guardian.co.uk |url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2097213,00.html |accessdate=2007-06-10]; 15 JuneConfirmation came on the
15 June that Mike Ashley and St. James' Holdings had acquired slightly over 77% of the club. This means that Mike Ashley could delist the company from the stock exchange, with the date of 18 July being mentioned in the release. [cite news |title =Ashley boosts stake in Newcastle |work=BBC News |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=2007-06-15 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6758283.stm |accessdate=2007-06-17 |quote=Billionaire businessman Mike Ashley is on course to withdraw football club Newcastle United from thestock market after lifting his stake to 77.06%... The cancellation of Newcastle's listing is expected to take place on 18 July. ]; 26 JuneOn 26 June 2007, Ashley gained the 90% of shares needed to compulsorily acquire the final 10% of shares. On the same day, directors
Bruce Shepherd ,Allison Antonopoulos ,Tim Revill andDouglas Hall formally resigned from the board and bothChris Mort andSteve Hayward were appointed.; 18 JulyOn 18 July 2008, the shares of Newcastle United PLC were delisted from the
London Stock Exchange [cite web |url=http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/PLCDetail/0,,10278~1075018,00.html |title=NUFC Plc Statement: July 18, 2007 |publisher=Newcastle United PLC |date=2007-07-18 |accessdate=2008-09-28] .2008 possible sale
In September 2008 the club manager
Kevin Keegan (who had been appointed in January) left the club. The European style of management introduced by the Ashley regime was cited as the reason for his departure. The fans of the club began to protest outside St James' Park and the players' performance suffered. This presure led to Mike Ashley releasing a statement and putting the club up for sale. [cite web |url=http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1392670,00.html |title=Mike Ashley - Official Statement |publisher=Newcastle United |date=2008-09-14 |accessdate=2008-09-28] The London-based investment bank Seymour Pierce was appointed to handle the sale of the club. [cite web |url=http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1400462,00.html |title=Official NUFC Statement - Seymour Pierce |publisher=Newcastle United |date=2008-09-22 |accessdate=2008-09-28]References
* Text largely from
Newcastle United andMike Ashley (businessman) articles.External links
* [http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/PLC/0,,10278,00.html Newcastle United PLC, Information about club finances] , "nufc.co.uk"
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