Football: Newcastle United in takeover talks with Singapore investors

[BENGALURU] English Premier League club Newcastle United has held talks with the Bellagraph Nova Group (BNG) group over a possible takeover bid, the Singapore-backed company said in a statement.

BNG, co-founded by Singapore-based investors Nelson Loh, Terence Loh and Evangeline Shen, and headquartered in Paris, said that negotiations were at an advanced stage and that the group was willing to "massively contribute" to the club's development.

"Bellagraph Nova Group's founders (have) already provided a LOI (letter of intent) as well as a proof of funds on Aug 10," BNG said.

"In addition to the engagement to the Newcastle Football Club and community, Bellagraph Nova Group enlisted help of England captain Alan Shearer and former player Michael Chopra."

The group added that the talks with Newcastle United owner and British businessman Mike Ashley had taken place in recent days and were ongoing.

BNG owns 31 entities and earned about US$12 billion in revenue last year, according to the company's website. It was formed after a merger between the DORR group, founded by Mr Nelson Loh and Mr Terence Loh, and the Bellgraph group in June.

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The Loh cousins, who are founders of Singapore-based Novena Global Lifecare, recently used another private vehicle in their ballooning stable to buy out Catalist-listed Axington Inc. They also sponsor the Singapore national Muay Thai team, according to Nelson Loh's LinkedIn profile, as well as local race car driver Yuey Tan, Channel News Asia reported.

Newcastle United's £300 million (S$538.2 million) takeover by a Saudi Arabian-backed consortium collapsed last month after the group announced it was ending interest in the deal, which was delayed by the Premier League's owners and directors test.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said last week that the group, which included Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF, declined to take up the Premier League's offer of independent arbitration to decide who would own the club.

The Saudi-backed bid was criticised by human rights campaigners, with questions also being raised about pirate broadcasts of Premier League games in the Middle Eastern country.

REUTERS