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January 19 – Former Birmingham owners David Gold and David Sullivan (pictured) have taken control of Premier League West Ham United after acquiring a 50 per cent stake in the London club for £105 million, they confirmed today.
The announcement came after Tony Fernandes, the chief executive of AirAsia and the boss of the Lotus Formula One team, confirmed that he had pulled out of the race.
The Malaysian businessman posted a message on Twitter which read: “Deal lost on West Ham. Hopefully new owners protect what’s good. We gave awesome deal and new ideas to rejuvenate a club and bring excitement.”
Sullivan and Gold will have the final say in the running of the club although CB Holdings, the current owner which is headed by Icelandic bank Straumur, retains a 50 per cent stake.
Karren Brady, the former chief executive of Birmingham City, is expected to be announced as the vice-chair.
Gold said: ”We are West Ham fans, we have a seven-year plan to get them into the Champions League and turn them into a big club.
“We hope we can persuade the Government to let us move to the Olympic stadium which is in the same borough.
“It’s a natural home for West Ham United.”
The two businessmen have been working towards a takeover of West Ham since leaving Birmingham in November following the sale of their controlling interest in that club to Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung.
The duo have promised that they will provide funds for manager Gianfranco Zola (pictured) to bolster his relegation-threatened squad in the current transfer window, but Sullivan also warned that they would seek to address the “imbalance in the squad and the crazy wages” the club has been paying.
Sullivan said: ”I have been interested in running West Ham United for 20 years and I can’t wait to start work.
“I enjoyed running Birmingham City for 16-and-half years, but everyone there knew my true love was always West Ham United.”
That takeover followed the collapse of the business empire of former owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, who bought West Ham in 2006 for about £85 million and who had borrowed heavily from the Icelandic bank.
Straumur, a major lender to Gudmundsson’s holding company, was taken over by Iceland’s financial authorities last March.
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