If you’re a football fan, or indeed if you’re not, you've probably read in the press that Newcastle United has unanimously accepted a $227m joint offer from financier Polygon and UBS.
According to Newcastle United, this is a load of twaddle. They've issued the following statement: “The board wishes to clarify that it has not accepted any proposals for the company from any party, nor is any due diligence being conducted on the Company. Therefore there can be no certainty that an offer will be made.”
And today the hedge fund Polygon confirmed that they do not intend making an offer for Newcastle at this time.
A deal with foreign consortia would come as a shock as they've been locked in talks with the Belgravia Group for the last few months.
As would-be purchasers of Newcastle United will doubtless discover, footballers can depreciate faster than the Chelsea tractors they love to drive.
What about this amigo...
Spanish striker Albert Luque was told that he hadn’t even made Glenn Roeder's substitutes' bench and was probably thinking that Newcastle will cut their losses on him next month.
Having cost almost £10m 14 months ago, Luque might now be allowed to leave for nothing should any suitor be willing to pay his massive salary.
Anyhow, all this talk about footie got me thinking about AIM – and how we could get a piece of the action!
Take Spurs for example...
They appear to be moving forward nicely on our Number One market. They recently topped their 52-week high and the price has come off slightly over Christmas and New Year.
There has certainly been a lot going on, including the appointment of Sir Keith Mills as a non-executive director.
Sir Keith has a great deal of experience in the world of sport. He was appointed International President and CEO of London 2012, and led the team which delivered the successful bid for the Olympics.
He also has extensive experience in advertising and marketing. He's also currently Chairman of the Loyalty Management Group, which owns and manages the Nectar programme and licenses Air Miles internationally.
Daniel Levy, Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur Plc, commented on the appointment...
"Sir Keith is a significant addition to the Board. We welcome his breadth and depth of knowledge of international marketing and branding. We have long admired his achievements and always felt he would be an excellent appointment, but while the Club was actively considering the Olympic stadium option, we felt it was inappropriate for us to formally approach Sir Keith for this role.
"In light of the requirement for the Olympic stadium to retain a permanent athletics track, we are no longer considering this as an option and consequently we were delighted when Sir Keith accepted our invitation to join the Board."
Commenting on his appointment Sir Keith said, "I have followed the fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur for many years; it's clear that the Club has huge potential. I look forward to bringing my knowledge of sport and business to help the Club grow both domestically and internationally."
Earlier this year Sir Keith was voted Sports Industry Personality of the Year.
He appears to be an excellent addition to the board, and judging by the share price - up 4.09% after the announcement - he's obviously been very well received.
I'll be following this one very closely in the months ahead.
But for now, make sure you tune in tomorrow for your chance to score an investment hat-trick...
Until then,
Melissa Carroll
for The Penny Sleuth
P.S. If you want to follow the tales of a small company investor, and uncover the hidden gems of the stock market, then sign up for the Penny Sleuth e-letter. It won’t cost you a penny…
