The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Stan Kroenke

  • Kroenke tables £525m for Usmanov’s share in Arsenal

    Kroenke tables £525m for Usmanov’s share in Arsenal

     

    Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has made £525m bid for Alisher Usmanov’s 30% stake in club as fans’ group urges Uzbek billionaire not to sell up

    The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust will continue to oppose any moves to take the club into single ownership and urge Alisher Usmanov not to sell his 30 per cent stake to majority shareholder Stan Kroenke.

    Reports suggest Kroenke Sports Enterprise UK are set to offer some £525million to buy the 18,695 shares held by Usmanov’s Red and White Securities Limited.

    While Usmanov has always stated he would not be willing to part with his stake in the Premier League club, the second largest individual shareholder has not been given a seat on the board and it appears unlikely that situation will change.

    Russian businessman Usmanov has previously made a formal £1billion bid to buy Arsenal, which led to a statement from KSE UK in May 2017 re-affirming their position that the ‘shares are not, and never have been, for sale,’ adding Kroenke’s organisation was ‘a committed, long-term investor in Arsenal and will remain so’.

    The AST has already initiated contact with Usmanov’s representatives following recent reports he may now be set to sell up and will stress the importance of his role in providing accountability.

    Should American Kroenke ultimately obtain Usmanov’s significant stock, then the remaining minority shareholders, which include the AST, have concerns over the possibility of Arsenal becoming a privately-owned company, so therefore not required to hold an Annual General Meeting, the next of which is set for October 26.

    The 2016 policy statement on the AST website reads: ‘The AST continues to believe that Arsenal is too important to be owned by any one person. The best ownership model for Arsenal will always include supporters being represented and involved in the ownership structure as shareholders.

    ‘We understand the reality that any stake in Arsenal is available to buy at any time should someone make an acceptable bid, but we will oppose any attempt to buy the club outright and take it into single ownership.’

    The Uzbekistan billionaire has previously stated he is unwilling to part with his Arsenal stake.

  • Wenger to get Arsenal’s riot act on Wednesday

    Wenger to get Arsenal’s riot act on Wednesday

     

    Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger is to get the club’s riot act on Wednesday when the club is expected to propose a number of changes in the way he runs the club. Some board members seriously believe that there is need for the Frenchman to effect a few changes to his method , insisting that the Gunners have all it takes to reclaim its position of pride in the EPL.

    Wenger agreed a two year deal with Stan Kroenke on Tuesday but will need to relay the decision to the board that will be expected to rubber-stamp Wenger’s two year deal.

    Kroenke, who attended Saturday’s FA Cup final, has spoken to Wenger over the past 72 hours.

    The Frenchman is understood to have told the club’s majority shareholder of his intention to stay.

    Wenger retains the owner’s backing, meaning Kroenke is virtually certain to ratify the Frenchman’s new deal.

    There remains genuine resistance from members for the Gunners board to Wenger staying – but Kroenke holds the final decision.

    As revealed by Sportsmail on Monday night, Wenger will be urged to be more assertive in the transfer market during the crunch board meeting.

    The hierarchy will propose a number of changes to the way Wenger runs the club’s football operation at Tuesday’s meeting.

    Indeed, there is a feeling from the board that Wenger lacks conviction in the final throes of potential transfers.

    In recent years, the club have found themselves frantically signing players on the final day of the summer transfer window – a scenario the club want to avoid.

    For example, with a deal agreed for Gonzalo Higuain in the summer of 2013, Wenger dropped his interest in the Argentine to pursue Luis Suarez.

    Also on the agenda at the meeting will be the proposed contract renewals of Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.

    The club’s summer transfer business will also be discussed.

    Malaga pair Sandro Ramirez and Pablo Fornals are emerging as serious targets for Arsenal.

  • Dangote ready to buy Arsenal ‘at any price’

    Dangote ready to buy Arsenal ‘at any price’

    Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has insisted  he will have “enough time and  resources” to buy English Premier League side, Arsenal, at whatever cost very soon.

    Dangote is Africa’s richest man having amassed a fortune in the region of $18.4 billion (£12.2 billion). He is currently ranked the 67th richest man in the world.

    The business mogul  reiterated his interest in purchasing the Gunners last month, saying he already know his strategy on how to take the club forward.

    That day may arrive sooner than first expected, with Dangote telling the BBC on Wednesday that completion of his proposed oil refinery in Nigeria will provide the funds necessary to launch a takeover of the English FA Cup winners.

    “When we get this refinery on track, I will have enough time and enough resources to pay what they are asking for,” he told BBC Hausa.

    “There were a couple of us who were rushing to buy, and we thought with the prices then, the people who were interested in selling were trying to go for a kill.”

    “We backtracked, because we were very busy doing other things, especially our industrialisation.”

    “They are doing well, but they need another strategic direction,” he added. “They need more direction than the current situation, where they just develop players and sell them.”

    Stan Kroenke is Arsenal’s majority shareholder, with the American owning 66.64 per cent of the club’s parent company, Arsenal Holdings Plc.

  • Dangote wants to buy Arsenal

    Dangote wants to buy Arsenal

    Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has expressed interest in becoming the owner of English Premier League giants, Arsenal FC.

    But the plan to buy the North London club is not an immediate priority for the Nigerian billionaire, as he hopes he can convince the owners to sell “at the right price” in the future, supersport.com says.

    The Nigerian said he is ready to offer Arsenal owners “a price they won’t want to resist.”

    “I still hope, one day at the right price, that I’ll buy the team. I might buy it, not at a ridiculous price but a price that the owners won’t want to resist. I know my strategy,” supersport.com quoted Dangote as saying to Bloomberg.

    Dangote, who is a tycoon dealing in cement and commodities, explained that he wants to focus on his business having invested around $16 million into it, and will make another attempt at pricing Arsenal away by the time he builds his business empire to “a certain level.”

    “We have $16 billion-worth of investments in the next few years. Right now I want to take my own business to a certain level. Once I finish on that trajectory, then maybe [an offer will follow.]”

    In 2010, Dangote made attempts to acquire a stake in the English club but discussions broke down.

    According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote is worth three times more than the current major shareholder at Arsenal, Stan Kroenke.

    Kroenke, who holds 67 percent of Arsenal, is reportedly worth $5.6 billion while Dangote is valued at $15.7 billion.

    But Dangote will have to convince Kroenke to give up his 67 percent shares in the club as well as 30 percent owned by Red and White Sec Limited under the control of Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri.