BN group bid in jeopardy

After straying offside with their questionable marketing material, Bellagraph Nova (BN) Group's ill-fated bid to take over Newcastle United looks likely to end in defeat.

Yesterday, the Press Association reported that its £280 million (S$507 million) bid "never came close to earning (BN Group)... a seat around the negotiating table" and the deal is not being explored.

This comes after Newcastle-based newspaper The Chronicle carried a report on Saturday with the headline "Mike Ashley ready to pull the plug on two bidders and make fresh search for investment this autumn".

It added the Premier League club are "still up for sale" but owner Ashley had lost patience with two groups of prospective buyers.

It was believed that BN Group, co-founded by Singaporean entrepreneurs and cousins Terence Loh and Nelson Loh, and Chinese lawyer and jewellery merchant Evangeline Shen, had not increased their initial offer of £280 million, with the proposal failing to get beyond Ashley's legal team. The other bid was from American TV mogul Henry Mauriss, who had not followed up on his verbal agreement to a £350 million deal after holding discussions with the owner and his close aide Chris Ronnie earlier this year.

Previously, Ashley had agreed to the £300 million bid by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which collapsed after the group declined to take up the league's offer of independent arbitration to decide who would own the club.

The Chronicle also cited sources close to the BN Group who claimed it is trying to get on with its business quietly and are desperate to adhere to Ashley's wish to keep developments out of the press.

The paper said that negotiations will continue via the respective legal teams, although Ashley is still said to favour a resuscitation of the Saudi bid.

An analyst, who declined to be named, told The Straits Times yesterday: "I have not heard of the BN Group or the Lohs before this saga, and I believe many haven't as well, which begs the question how can there be internationally successful Singaporean businessmen out there buying a prominent football team and so few people in Singapore have heard of them?

"The group's reported bid was £280 million, when Mike Ashley already had and accepted a £300 million offer.

"Why bid lower than that agreed price? Maybe it is a good way to get publicity without having to buy?"

Since announcing on Aug 15 that it was "at an advanced stage of negotiations" with Newcastle, the BN Group and its co-founders had been shrouded in controversy.

On Aug 22, Reuters reported BN Group head of global marketing and investor relations Nereides Antonio Giamundo de Bourbon as admitting that some publicity photos of the co-founders with former United States president Barack Obama had been photoshopped.

ST checks also uncovered a pattern of outlandish and questionable claims in the interviews, press releases and social media accounts of the founders. These range from exaggerations to misinformation.

The group has since either retracted or deleted press releases that were online, and also locked their website and Instagram account.

British sports journalist Liam Kennedy, who first broke the story of the bid in Tyneside newspaper Shields Gazette, told ST he was already sceptical from the start, and felt the deal would not go through.

He said: "Newcastle United fans want change - they're desperate for it - but it has to be for the better. And there is a sense this BNG bid could be a recipe for disaster.

"Mike Ashley is not even entertaining it - and that speaks volumes, given he is so desperate to sell the football club."

At press time, BN Group did not respond to ST queries.