By David Gold
March 22 – Alisher Usmanov has increased his stake in Arsenal to over 27 per cent to raise the possibility that his company Red & White Holdings Limited may make a move to buy the Premier League club outright.
Stan Kroenke is the largest single shareholder in the club with 29.9 per cent of the club’s shares, but former director Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith has 15.9 per cent of shares up for sale after she left the club’s Board in December 2008.
City rules state that if any party owns 30 per cent of club shares they must make a formal offer for the remainder of the shares and a full takeover bid.
Arsenal, along with North London rivals Tottenham, are the only clubs competing at the top of the Premier League who are not under foreign ownership.
Usmanov has been a vocal critic of the club’s frugal spending, with manager Arsene Wenger reluctant to spend large sums of cash on players despite calls for him to do so amid five years without a trophy at the Emirates Stadium.
The Uzbekistani billionaire has previously come forward with suggestions to generate more money for transfers, but has been ignored by the club hierarchy, who are thought to be more open to the involvement of Kroenke.
Arsenal’s last financial announcement revealed a loss of £2.5 million for the six months to November 30 2010, though football related profit was £9.3 million.
On the pitch, the club are enduring a torrid period, having been knocked out of three cup competitions, but remain in contention for the league title.
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