American business tycoon Stan Kroenke’s bid to take over Arsenal is not going to be a cakewalk with the biggest shareholder of the Premier League club announcing to foil any such effort.
After club chairman Peter Hill-Wood issued a letter to all informing that he would soon meet Kroenke, club director Danny Fiszman, who has 24.11 percent share of the Gunners, said he was ready to thwart the bid.
Fiszman said
We are open to anything that will improve the club, but we’re going to have to be seriously convinced that it would improve the fortunes of the club.
He also rubbished the notion that Kroenke can bail the Gunners out of the current financial mess.
Fiszman said
It’s going to be very, very difficult to explain to me and to the rest of board how you can actually make substantial investment ... and expect a return for that.
If it’s just an 8-10 percent return, you’re talking about 50 million pounds ($100 million; $73 million) or so. That’s got to come out of the club, otherwise there’s no point making a purchase.
Kroenke has 12.19 percent of the Gunners’ shares and if his bid succeeds, Arsenal would be the fourth club - after Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa - to be owned by an American.
Kroenke, a real estate developer, will need 30 percent share to complete the takeover, under the London Stock Exchange rules.
Photo credit: forbes.com
