Kroenke buys more Gunners shares

03 November 2009 09:55
The Denver-based sports magnate is now the largest individual shareholder in the Gunners, with a stake of some 29.6% after acquiring more stock from the estate of the British industrialist Ernest Harrison.[LNB]Should Kroenke, or indeed anyone else such as second-largest shareholder Alisher Usmanov, reach a figure of 29.9%, they would, under the City's financial regulations, be obliged to launch a formal takeover bid.[LNB]However, when the matter of his intentions for the Premier League club were directly questioned during the recent Annual General Meeting at Emirates Stadium, the American - nicknamed 'Silent Stan' - chose not to take the opportunity to address the gathered shareholders, with chairman Peter Hill-Wood intervening.[LNB]Any public statements against future bid intentions must be unambiguous, otherwise the individual or group would, under the Takeover Panel's rule 2.8, be prevented from making a formal move for six months.[LNB]While Hill-Wood insisted major changes behind the scenes were not on the agenda, the Arsenal chairman has also suggested he was "very relaxed" about a proposed takeover by the American.[LNB]The Arsenal Supporters Trust, meanwhile, believe the latest moves do not mean a takeover from Kroenke is imminent.[LNB]However, the fans group, whose representatives have travelled to the United States to meet Kroenke, stressed that were that position to change, "urgent discussions" would be necessary.[LNB]A statement from the AST read: "While the AST welcome Stan Kroenke's involvement, we agree with the sentiment of Peter Hill-Wood's statement at the most recent AGM that there is no need for any shareholder to launch a takeover of the club.[LNB]"The AST believes in plurality of ownership.[LNB]"If a takeover is launched by any party, we would seek urgent discussions with those involved."[LNB]However, the AST also warned against problems which can be associated with individual ownership based on significant debt.[LNB]The statement added: "The AST has a good relationship with both Stan Kroenke and members of his team at Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE).[LNB]"We have stressed to them the importance of custodianship and that the club will be stronger if it has supporters directly involved in its ownership model.[LNB]"While we cannot vouch for their future actions, we are encouraged that they have said they see the AST having an important role to play at Arsenal.[LNB]"The AST has repeatedly stated that we are generally opposed to a takeover and would fight any plans that require the club to incur debt to pay for a takeover, as has happened at Manchester United and Liverpool.[LNB]"Two red lines that cannot be crossed are the use of debt secured on the club's assets to fund a takeover and an ownership structure which excludes small shareholders. Arsenal is too important to be owned by any one person.[LNB]"The AST's own assessment of today's development is that a takeover is not imminent and that today's purchase is the consolidation of an existing position."[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk