Ashley has paid more than £55million to acquire 55,342,223 shares at 100p each to take a stake amounting to approximately 41.6% of the Tyneside club.
HALL DOWN .... NEXT SHEPHERD!
The holding, purchased from Wynyard (Guernsey) Limited, Cameron Hall Developments Limited and Cameron Hall Developments Limited Executive Pension Scheme, represents those shares until now controlled by Metrocentre tycoon Sir John Hall and his family.
Ashley: "I am delighted to have this opportunity to invest in Newcastle United.
"The club has a fantastic infrastructure, for which Sir John and the board must take much of the credit. I am pleased that Sir John has agreed to remain as life president of the club.
"Newcastle United has a wonderful heritage and the passion of its fans is legendary.
"I am sure that, like me, they are already excited about the prospects for next season under the new manager's (Sam Allardyce) stewardship."
Newcastle United: "The Board of Newcastle United will meet to consider the offer shortly. Newcastle United shareholders are urged to take no further action at this stage.
"A further announcement will be made in due course."
Stock Market rules demand that, having acquired a stake of more than 30%, Ashley now has to make an offer for the remaining shares, which he has done at the same price conditional on the acquisition of in excess of 50%.
If he were to gain a 75% holding, he would have control of the club and be able to delist it, at which point reaching 90% ownership and the point where the offer becomes unconditional is almost inevitable.
Freddy Shepherd has a holding a stake of around 29.8%, and on Sunday he insisted the club was "unbuyable". The chairman placed a price of £10m over the odds for his shares when interest was shown back in September, as he said he would only leave the club if someone made him a very rich man.
The Jersey-based Belgravia Group and the St James' Park Group were put off when Shepherd (who pays himself £2m each season from Newcastle Utd funds) bumped up the price. But the majority of the fans want to see the back of the man.
There were two demonstrations last season trying to move Shepherd, and it won't take much for the fans to boil over should he open his mouth again the way he did when talking about Michael Owen last month.
Shepherd said last week: "It is a plc matter, but none of these talks came to anything because I am not selling.
"It is an impossible club to buy. If the Halls don't sell and I don't sell, there is no way anybody can buy this club."