Saturday 29 September 2018 14:27, UK
Former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon is plotting a takeover bid for Newcastle United, Sky sources understand.
City sources have revealed that he was working on a bid with Rockefeller Capital Management, a New York-based firm run by Greg Fleming, one of the most prominent figures on Wall Street from his time at Merrill Lynch and then Morgan Stanley's wealth and asset management divisions.
Kenyon, who is now a director of a sports consultancy business called Opto Advisers, is said by potential investors to have held preliminary talks with Mike Ashley, the Sports Direct chief executive who bought Newcastle in 2005.
The value likely to be attached to the offer was unclear on Saturday.
If a bid was successful, Kenyon would take a senior role in the running of the club, according to a source who has been told about his plans.
However, any takeover is far from guaranteed, and is partly dependent upon Kenyon securing financing commitments from investors.
Ashley originally put Newcastle on the market last October, saying he hoped to find a buyer by Christmas.
Since then, he has held talks with several bidders, including Amanda Staveley, the City financier behind a vehicle called PCP Capital Partners.
Negotiations between Ashley and PCP, which was said to have proposed a deal structured to be worth in the region of £300m including deferred payments, broke down earlier this year.
Ashley will be at St James' Park for the first time in 16 months on Saturday as Newcastle take on Leicester. It is unclear whether the Sports Direct tycoon is engaged in talks with any other prospective buyers of the club.
