LONDON: Stan Kroenke, the American billionaire and majority stakeholder of Arsenal FC, is set to take complete control of the Premier League club after reportedly agreeing terms with the cub’s second largest shareholder Alisher Usmanov.
The “all-cash” buy-out announcement was made to the London Stock exchange on Tuesday morning.
British media reports have put the amount that Usmanov will be paid all the way up from £525 million, £550 million and the highest figure by The Guardian and the BBC at £600 million.
What all media reports were in common agreement on though was that the buyout valued the Gunners at £1.8 billion.
A statement from his company, Kroenke Sports Entertainment (KSE), read: “KSE UK is pleased to announce the terms of its all-cash offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Arsenal Holdings PLC other than the Arsenal Shares already held by KSE.
“KSE, a Delaware corporation wholly-owned by Mr E Stanley Korenke, currently holds 41,743 Arsenal Shares, representing approximately 67.09% of the existing issued share capital of Arsenal.”
Kroenke’s company says it has received an “irrevocable undertaking” from Usmanov’s firm to accept the offer as soon as possible, with a deadline of 3pm GMT on Tuesday set.
A declaration from Kroenke states: “We at KSE are moving forward with this offer leading to 100% ownership of the club.
“We appreciate Mr Usmanov’s dedication to the Arsenal Football Club and the storied ethos and history the Club represents.”
Usmanov, despite being the second-largest shareholder and owning 91.3 per cent of all shares not currently held by KSE, has never been given a seat on the club’s board.
Kroenke will pay £29,419.64 in cash per Arsenal share to take complete charge through his company, which also owns the NFL’s LA Rams, NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and MLS side Colorado Rapids.
Kroenke first launched an takeover attempt of Arsenal in 2011, which was then blocked by Usmanov.
KSE again made an offer of around £525 million to buy the 18,695 shares held by Usmanov’s Red and White Securities Limited in October, but that bid was also rejected.
The statement added: “KSE’s ambitions for the club are to see it competing consistently to win the Premier League and the Champions League, as well as the major trophies in the women’s senior game and at youth level.
KSE also stated that since “its stewardship since 2011 the club has invested in major transfers, player contracts, analytics, senior non-playing football management employees” and it “expects the club to build on those investments”.
