Yorkshire CCC in talks with Mike Ashley's Frasers Group over refinancing - Exclusive

The Yorkshire Post understands that discussions are taking place with the company controlled by the billionaire former owner of Newcastle United Football Club.

Yorkshire are trying to refinance the £15m debt owed to the family trusts of Colin Graves, their former chairman, in addition to raising £5m of working capital.

The club’s latest accounts warned that “a cash-flow shortfall over and above the club’s existing borrowing facilities will arise towards the end of 2023, and without further funding of circa £3.5m the club will not be able to continue as a going concern”.

Yorkshire are confident of refinancing a business hollowed out by the racism scandal triggered by the complaints of Azeem Rafiq, their former captain, which led to numerous sackings, legal fees and costs.

The accounts showed that Yorkshire spent £3,535,700 on the crisis in 2021 and 2022, including £1,330,465 on legal bills and £734,282 on governance reviews and a whistleblowing hotline.

Yorkshire must make a further payment of £500,000 to the Graves Trusts in October, with the balance of the debt due in October 2024.

Graves remains ready to return with a rescue package of his own amid reported reluctance from some board members to accept it, or else the club wishes to explore all possible options before committing.

Reports that Yorkshire are also in talks with a Saudi Arabian prince have been played down by insiders, who insist there have been no direct conversations with Saudi Arabia and that none are in the pipeline.

However, individuals with links to the Saudi state’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which led the £300m buyout of Ashley’s Newcastle United in October, are said to have an interest in getting involved with the club, along with various parties in the UK and abroad.

In a statement issued to The Yorkshire Post in response to the Frasers Group connection, with further talks understood to be set for next week, the club said: “While we are not able to comment on any of the individual parties involved, we are involved in numerous positive and serious conversations around refinancing of the club and continue to explore all the avenues available to us.”

Frasers Group was a rebrand in 2019 of Sports Direct, the company founded by Ashley, who built up a High Street empire after opening his first sports and ski shop in Maidenhead in 1982.

The 58-year-old was a controversial figure in his 14 years at Newcastle, where he had an acrimonious relationship with supporters who protested against his running of the club.

In November, Ashley bought the CBS Arena, Coventry City’s stadium, with Frasers Group and the club last month agreeing an extended deal that will see the Sky Blues remain there for at least the next five years.

Ashley paid £17m for the stadium after former owners Wasps rugby, then under Stephen Vaughan, the current Yorkshire chief executive, went into administration in October.