Newcastle mull takeover bid from British tycoon

Newcastle United have said that they were considering a response to a takeover offer from British entrepreneur Mike Ashley which valued the English Premiership club at 133 million pounds.

Newcastle United said Thursday that they were considering a response to a takeover offer from British entrepreneur Mike Ashley which valued the English Premiership club at 133 million pounds.

Last week, Ashley launched a takeover bid worth 196.3 million euros or 264.7 million dollars, after snapping up almost half of Newcastle's shares.

"The board of Newcastle United announces that there was a meeting with Mike Ashley and his team earlier today (Thursday) at which there was a useful and constructive discussion," Newcastle said in an official statement to the London Stock Exchange.

"The board will now consider its response to the offer from St James Holdings Limited."

Ashley's investment vehicle St James Holdings Limited bought a 41.6 percent stake in the club earlier this month from Sir John Hall and his family interests.

The size of Ashley's stake triggered a mandatory takeover offer for the remaining stock, of which almost 30 percent is owned by Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd.

A takeover of Newcastle would be a massive boost for the club, which despite regularly playing in front of 50,000 fans at its St James' Park stadium in northeast England, has not won a major trophy since 1969.