Source: PA
Usmanov to increase Gunners stake - report
Alisher Usmanov hopes to increase his stake in Arsenal to overtake Stan Kroenke as the club's main shareholder, according to reports.
The Russian billionaire currently owns a 27% share in the Barclays Premier League title contenders and hopes to buy another 2.9% in order for him to surpass American Stan Kroenke, who currently owns a 29.8% stake.
Should Usmanov succeed in increasing his share to 29.9%, he would still be left 0.1% short of the stake required to trigger an automatic takeover.
Usmanov and Kroenke have both been increasing their stakes in the club over the last few years and the Uzbekistan-born metals and mining tycoon did not rule out completing a full takeover of the Londoners today.
"Today, we have 27%. Our objective is to bring that up to a blocking stake of 29.9%," Bloomberg quotes Usmanov as saying on Russian state TV. "And from there, we will just keep looking. You can never tell about what happens in life."
