So, the day has finally come, it was only a matter of time. In fact, I'd say this happened a lot sooner than we all expected. Stan Kroenke has finally purchased enough stock in Arsenal Holdings to trigger a full buy-out of the club which will make him the owner. Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith sold their remaining stocks to him over the past couple of days which automatically forces Silent Stan to make an offer which is believe to be at around £731m rising to £1b. If you don't know anything about Stan, here is a quick run-down: He is the owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises (derp) which owns stock in a number of sports franchises (Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, American St Louis Rams and Colorado Rapids (basically all dreadful teams)). His personal value is easily over $1b. Personally, I am excited about this move and look forward to seeing what changes around the club. I am confident he has Arsenal's best interests at heart and if not, fuck it, at least it isn't that ugly Russian! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/9453736.stm http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/important-information-arsenal-football-club ^ Not sure if I have trustworthy sources.
Apparently, Stan's first intentions as club owner is to buy-out the Emirates shirt sponsorship and renegotiate with his own contacts. Our current shirt contract is £5.5m per year and is considered below market value for a top-flight club. He could potentially buy-out the whole sponsorship deal which will see Emirate's Stadium become renamed. What I would give to make it Ashburton Grove...
Got to think this wouldn't be allowed if there was any indication he would add debt to the franchise or meddle in the way it is being run. However a bit of meddling may be required. We are, at this point, an underachieving club. Seems inevitable that some heads will roll this summer. I guess we will have to wait and see what SK's ownership will mean. Probably not much.
Kroenke looks like an honest business man but that is most definitely an oxymoron. Anyway, a bit of news since yesterday: - Usmanov made a counter-bid for Lady Nina's stock. He offered a 10% increase but Lady Nina declined the offer in favor of Silent Stan. - Usmanov's holding company Red and White are refusing to sell their stock to Kroenke mainly out of spite. Apparently Usmanov knew nothing about Stan's intentions to reach the 29.9% mark and was described as being 'hopping mad' when he discovered the news. - David Dein is rumored to return to the Arsenal board once the takeover is completed. This is huge for Arsenal as he has been influential in the past. He recruited Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Wright, and numerous other big names. He helped expand Arsenal as a club in Europe and even recommended hiring Wenger as the manager. Kroenke seems to be a big fan of David Dein and he is a big favorite around Arsenal. If he would return to the board, he would be put back in-charge of the transfer policy which should see us splash a little bit of extra cash to strengthen the ranks. - Rumors circulating that Kroenke will buy-out the Emirates shirt sponsor as 5.5m per year is well below the market average for a team of Arsenal's caliber. Nothing said about the stadium sponsorship as they run on different contracts. - ASP (Arsenal's Supporters Group) will not be selling their stock to Kroenke as they do not want Arsenal to become completely private. As it stands, the main faces on the board are Kroenke, Usmanov, and ASP. If Stan reaches 90% stock, he will be forced to buy out the rest and the club will become privately owned. He is currently sitting at around 63%. - Usmanov will not be given a place on the board, according to multiple sources as tensions are high between KSE and R&W. Usmanov really can't do anything with the stock he owns except wait for Arsenal's debt to drop and make a large profit of off his remaining stock (around 20-something percent).
Having Dein back seems nice but I wonder if he is still as connected to the modern game as he once was.
