April 12 – One of Arsenal’s biggest shareholders decided to sell her stake in the Premier League club today raising the possibility of a takeover bid for the North London side.
United States private equity firm Blackstone has been retained by Nina Bracewell-Smith to find a buyer for her stake of almost 16 per cent in the club.
Bracewell-Smith’s decision to sell her holding through the New York-based company could be of huge interest to the club’s two big investors – Kroenke Sports Enterprises and Red and White Holdings – and possibly lead to a bid for control of the club.
American sports and real estate entrepreneur Stan Kroenke currently owns 29.98 per cent of the club, just short of the 30 per cent threshold that would require him to make a mandatory takeover offer.
Uzbek-born metals oligarch Alisher Usmanov holds a 26.29 per cent stake through his investment vehicle Red and White.
In January, Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis said he did not expect any takeover bid despite Kroenke’s growing interest in the club.
Kroenke, 62, made his debut on the Arsenal shareholder register in 2007, when he bought a 9.9 per cent stake from ITV.
The club is valued at £622 million ($956 million), according to its current share price.
Shares in parent company Arsenal Holdings Plc, which are rarely traded, stood at £10,000 ($15,370) each today.
Bracewell-Smith was forced off the club’s board in December 2008.
Her family has been associated with the Gunners since 1938, and she took charge of the stock in 2005 after her husband Charles Bracewell-Smith fell ill.
Kroenke has until April 12 to decide whether to sell his 40 percent stake in the National Football League’s St. Louis Rams following a $750 million (£488 million) bid from Pakistan-born businessman Shahid Khan.
Kroenke could use the money from a sale to bid for Arsenal, media reports have suggested.
Paul Andrews, the executive vice-president of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, declined to comment, saying “we don’t comment on speculation.”
Rollo Head, a spokesman for Usmanov, Natasha Baxter, a spokeswoman for Blackstone, and Arsenal all declined to comment.
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