Bengaluru, May 27: Newcastle United's owner Mike Ashley has agreed to sell the Premier League club to Abu Dhabi's billionaire Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan for 350 million pounds, according to reports in British media.
The contracts between Ashley and Sheikh Khaled have been signed and submitted to the Premier League, according to a report which appeared in the British tabloid The Sun.
Ashley, who bought a controlling stake in the Premier League club in 2007, has in the past tried to sell the club.
The papers say Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has agreed a deal to sell the club.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 26, 2019
It's the latest gossip!
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The billionaire, who owns British sportswear retailer Sports Direct International Plc said last October that he had not received any acceptable offers for Newcastle, a year after he officially put the club up for sale, but told Sky News in December that talks on a deal had made promising progress.
Any potential buyer of the club must be able to provide transfer funds, he had said at the time.
Sheikh Khaled, the cousin of Manchester City owner and Arab billionaire Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, previously failed in his bid to buy Liverpool Football Club for 2 billion pounds last year, the Daily Mail has previously reported.
(1/2) Reps of Sheik Khaled half brother of MCFC owner Mansour) tonight tell Sportsmail that £350m takeover of Newcastle United is, in their words, 'concluded'. Say they want Rafa to stay. Newcastle senior source declines to comment.(w/@CraigHope_DM) https://t.co/ebhg7Jwmjm
— Adam Crafton (@AdamCrafton_) May 26, 2019
Sheikh Khaled is also the founder of Bin Zayed Group, a leading conglomerate with diverse business interests in the local and international markets.
Newcastle United had finished 13th in the 2018-19 Premier League season in which Manchester City defended the title on the last day.
(With inputs from Agencies)