| Soccer: The Russians are coming |
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Friday, 28 September 2007
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 Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has upped his stake in Arsenal to 23% to spark fears for the present board that a take over bid is imminent. Arsenal are 1.80 with Sportsbook.com to win at West Ham this weekend.The latest investment is estimated to have cost him in the region of £6million at some £10,000 a share. It means his investment company Red and White Holdings Limited have upped their holding by almost 2%. A statement issued on Friday read: "Red and White Holdings Limited ('Red & White') announces, in accordance with its intentions stated on the 30th August, that it has increased its shareholding and now holds a 23% stake in Arsenal Holdings plc ('Arsenal')." Earlier this week, Arsenal published highly healthy figures for 2006/2007. Overall turnover is up to £200.8million and the clubs operating profit also increased significantly to £51.2million after their move to their new 60,000-seater home – the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal are currently top the Barclays Premier League , but in the mega bucks world of the Premiership it is the recent activity on the stock markets which have dominated the news headlines. The Russian media report that Usmanov is ready to up his interest to obtain a 'blocking stake' of just over 25% before then waiting for the share price to increase. Although the Arsenal board say they are not about to sell up this news will fuel speculation that Usmanov is going to launch a hostile takeover. Red and White Holdings were formed earlier this year when ex-Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein sold his 14.58% stake for £75 million to the Russian. Previously Dein has outlined his vision to turn Arsenal into "the world's number one football club". Dein also vowed to "work with others to provide the financial resources necessary to turn the vision into reality". Dein left the Arsenal board in Easter following a disagreement over the role of American billionaire Stan Kroenke, who holds a 12.19% stake.                        |
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| Last Updated ( Friday, 28 September 2007 ) | |||||||