Chawke considers Magpies bid

Former Sunderland shareholder enters Newcastle ownership battle

Last updated: 12th July 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Chawke considers Magpies bid

Ashley: Looking to sell

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Former Sunderland shareholder Charlie Chawke has confirmed he is putting together a syndicate to bid for Newcastle.

Newcastle announced earlier this week that at least three interested parties had met the £100million asking price set by current owner Mike Ashley.

Negotiations are continuing but no deal has yet been done and Chawke views the prospect of buying the St James' Park outfit as 'a very viable option'.

Chawke was part of the Drumaville Consortium which took over Sunderland three years ago but is no longer involved at the Stadium of Light following Ellis Short's buy-out.

The Dublin publican is in optimistic mood and also has the support of Louis Fitzgerald, another member of the Drumaville Consortium.

He told Irish radio station RTE: "We're putting a syndicate hopefully together to do just that (bid for Newcastle).

"We had a great time in Sunderland. We got seven Irish people and one English person together with a syndicate and we succeeded in acquiring Sunderland.

Viable option

"We had three great years there but unfortunately we're gone now. It's sold out to an American and we're looking for options and Newcastle is a very viable option at the moment.

"It's on sale for about £100million which is about £500million less than what it was worth a year and a half or two years ago.

"We have to look at options other than Sunderland and Newcastle would fit very nicely into our portfolio."

Chawke is not in direct talks with Ashley but has opened discussions with his legal and financial people.

Asked how the interest had come about, he replied: "We had friends in

Sunderland who were looking at it for us, through our accountants here in

Dublin.

"What we're trying to do at the moment is put together a syndicate of people who are interested firstly in football and then investing with us in Newcastle United if possible."

Asked how many people he was looking to have in the syndicate, Chawke said: "We're thinking about possibly the same as we had in Sunderland, about eight people maybe, depending on what money we can get.

"It's a great club, it houses 52,000 people. It's a great city, Newcastle.

"It's a bit like Dublin - vibrant, full of fun... all the best things in life are there. It makes perfect sense if I could just swing it."