KNIGHTS chairman Brian McGuigan has revealed that six consortiums have expressed interest in buying the city’s embattled NRL franchise – but no sale will be agreed unless stringent criteria are met.
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The NRL, which has run the Knights since the demise of Nathan Tinkler more than two years ago, announced in August it was hoping to sell the club by Christmas.
The sales process kicked off last month when the governing body appointed Tony Garrett, the head of mergers and acquistions at Deloitte Australia, to broker a deal.
Speaking on Thursday at the announcement of McDonald Jones as Newcastle’s sleeve sponsor for the next three years, McGuigan said local, national and international entities had kicked off negotiations.
He was optimistic a successful candidate would emerge but said that remained to be proven.
“It’s got to be approved by a lot of people,’’ McGuigan told the Newcastle Herald.
“It’s pretty tough criteria. If they don’t meet it, we have to find some other interim position … anyone in business will tell you, you’ve got to have the structure right.
“We’ve still got the final issues to go through. That is, the price for the Knights, the [length of] commitment.
“But I’m just reinforcing that we will not be settling for anything unless it is the best thing for the fans.’’
McGuigan said no deal was imminent and new contenders, who came forward last week, had not yet been interviewed.
“There are people interested from all over,’’ McGuigan said. “Not just all over Australia, but all over the world. There’s a lot of interest, but … being a Novocastrian, I want to make sure they have local interests at heart.
“We are going through the process and still have a few weeks to go. We’re not close to a deal yet, because we’re still looking at all the options.
“Some more options came in last week, so we’re still yet to interview them to see what they’re proposing.’’
Having endured five torrid seasons since the 2011 privatisation vote that allowed Tinkler to buy the club, McGuigan said it was essential that the club’s next owner, or owners, were capable of long-term viability.
“We’re not going to let all the pain that has been suffered by the whole community just go out the door, to fix up the fact that we want a new owner,’’ he said.
“We’re not just going to let it go. There’s enough passion on the board to say: ‘Let’s hang in there, if we can’t get the right people now’.
“That’s my position. If we don’t get the right people now, we’re not going to waste the last two years – or the last four or five years – that have been so disruptive, to the way we play, the way we run the thing. It’s got to be done right.’’
McGuigan said it “would be lovely” if the Knights could be taken over by a consortium based in the Hunter.
“My preferred option – personally speaking – is for a local owner, who has his heart and soul and future in the Hunter,’’ McGuigan said.
“That’s a chance.
“Second is people out of Sydney, who have Newcastle interests. Third, and way back, is international interests.’’
McGuigan said, in comparison to sole owners like Tinkler, “consortiums are good, because you get a better balance’’.
He added that while there were four Knights directors on the seven-person “divestment committee”, the NRL would ultimately decide whether or not to sell the franchise and under what terms and conditions.
“It depends on what the NRL says,’’ he said.
“They are the owner. We are just the mechanism through which these things are implemented.’’
