Amanda Staveley repays Mike Ashley £10 million after Newcastle United legal dispute
Former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley loaned Amanda Staveley the money at the time of the takeover.
Amanda Staveley has repaid a £10 million loan to ex-Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley following a High Court battle.
Ashley loaned new Newcastle United co-owner £10 million in October 2021 during the takeover and Staveley was given two years to pay the money back, so long as she didn’t break any of the conditions of the loan.
However Ashley sued Staveley in June 2022 after he alleged she broke the conditions of the deal by ‘briefing the media against him’ and ‘using it as a means to put “commercial pressure” on him,’ according to Bloomberg.
It’s believed part of the deal was not to criticise his tenure of Newcastle United and allow some of Ashley’s advertising to remain at St James’ Park until the end of the 2021-2022 season.
Ashley claimed they were taken down before this and his lawyers said Sports Direct suffered a ‘marketing loss’ after their removal.
However, today the dispute has come to an end after Amanda Staveley has repaid the loan in full two years after receiving it, as per the original conditions.
A statement from PCP Capital Partners, Staveley’s investment business, said: ‘Amanda and Mehrdad- her husband- would like to take this opportunity in thanking Mr Ashley for the provision of the loan- and separately for the support to the whole consortium over the purchase of Newcastle United.’
Staveley and her husband are both co-owners of Newcastle United, owning 10%. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund owns 80% while the Reuben brothers own another 10%.