The former owner of Newcastle United, Mike Ashley, provided a £10 million loan to Amanda Staveley during the takeover. Amanda Staveley has now repaid this loan after a legal battle in the High Court.
In October 2021, Ashley loaned Staveley, who is now a co-owner of Newcastle United, £10 million as part of the takeover. The agreement allowed her two years to repay the loan, provided she adhered to certain conditions. However, in June 2022, Ashley filed a lawsuit against Staveley, alleging that she violated the conditions by speaking negatively about him to the media and using it as a means to exert “commercial pressure” on him.
One of the conditions of the deal was reportedly not to criticize Ashley’s management of Newcastle United and to permit some of Ashley’s advertising to remain at St James’ Park until the end of the 2021-2022 season. Ashley claimed that these advertising materials were removed prematurely, resulting in a marketing loss for Sports Direct.
Nevertheless, today, the dispute has been resolved as Amanda Staveley has fully repaid the loan according to the original terms. A statement from PCP Capital Partners, Staveley’s investment firm, expressed gratitude to Mr. Ashley for providing the loan and supporting the consortium in the purchase of Newcastle United.
Amanda Staveley, along with her husband Mehrdad, now co-owns 10% of Newcastle United, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund owning 80% and the Reuben brothers owning another 10%.
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