In a week when American entrepreneur Stan Kroenke tightened his grip on Arsenal by accumulating 427 more shares – edging him ever closer to the golden figure of 29.99% – the clubs ethics and future are in question as a new era is almost upon us. But his imminent takeover is a defensive, not offensive move.
Kroenke is yet to show his hand in terms of his plans, but the work he is already doing for the club in his board member role is an example of where he wants to take the club. The 62-year-old sports mogul has already pumped his vast knowledge of marketing, promotion and technology into Arsenal, bringing the stone age board right to the fore of the latest ways to bring extra revenue. The partnership with Kroenke’s Colorado Rapids is a business deal which highlights this.
So far ‘Silent Stan’ has impressed everybody with his commitment. He, like Arsène Wenger and the members of the current board, are very quiet, efficient and intelligent. He has strong work ethics having amassed a fortune of $3.5 billion in the often tough world of real estate. His 50% stake in Arsenal Broadband prior to buying shares suggests he has held an ambition to be involved in the club for a long time.
Fundamentally the club will not change under Kroenke’s leadership. He believes in the way things are going. The only changes you will notice is away from football in terms of marketing and new promotions and innovations. Stan has transformed the American city of Denver. Under Kroenke Sports Enterprises, Denver is now regarded as the number one sports capital of the US. All his teams have been bathed in success and trophies since he has taken over and most fans of his teams will not argue with the statement than he has brought the fans closer to their teams. A man with a real passion for sports and supporters, his innovation includes developing sports TV networks, restoring and re-building stadiums and theatres and bringing some huge sporting events to the city of Denver.
Once described as the man who ‘has brought more entertainment to the people than anybody else in the West’ he knows how to run sports clubs and investments and get the fans more involved. A real winning leader, Kroenke’s new era for Arsenal in an exciting one for all those who follow the club. Words like ‘hostile’ are being used to describe the takeover, but in Stan Kroenke Arsenal have a man who will continue to preserve the core foundations of the club while bringing us to the very fore in todays competitive sports industry.
Article By – J.Sanderson
$350 Billion???? You sure mate?
The fact he is being supplied with shares by the current board, shows they are happy with him, therefore, we should be too. Although in an ideal world, there would be no single owner.
Unfortunately, thanks to the self serving actions (that massively backfired on him) of Dein, that is not possible, as he sold his shares and his soul toegoitistical snake Dein the devil! Thinly (or fatly!) disgy=uised as that Uzbek Gangster!
whoops! Should read;
$350 Billion???? You sure mate?
The fact he is being supplied with shares by the current board, shows they are happy with him, therefore, we should be too. Although in an ideal world, there would be no single owner.
Unfortunately, thanks to the self serving actions (that massively backfired on him) of Dein, that is not possible, as he sold his shares and his soul to the devil! Thinly (or fatly!) disgy=uised as that Uzbek Gangster!
$3,5 billion, not $350 billion.
It’s seems pretty clear to me that this move has long been in the planning between Kroenke and the current board as demonstrated by the fact that Peter Hill-wood sold shares to Kroenke. I thinbk more than anything this has been provoked by Usmanov and Red and White holdings who by all means would be offensive in their takeover should they get that far.
It’s seems a Kroenke takeover is very close but whether he will get enough shares to take complete control remains to be seen. At the end of the day it’s clear we are not financially competitive with the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Man U and this means at least to a certain degree we will be able to compete on that level whilst maintaining our core values and not inducing further debt. All of these I think make this a very promising move for the future of Arsenal FC. With the majority of the current board and Arsene Wenger staying on, as it would seem likely they will, Arsenal will complete a rather unique move of having a foreign takeover and yet still maintaining those traditions and values we have stood for for so long.
apologies. $3.5 billion.
Yeah the board have made it clear with the way Kroenke has been treated that he is the man to protect to values of the club. Usmanov goes against everything we have done so far. He don’t need his corrupt money.
i hope so, if only the lesser of 2 evils, it shud keep big scary usmanov away!
Kroenke still owes £50 million for shares he has purchased. His takeover is likely to be bankrolled by massive debt for Arsenal. The Liverpool and Man Utd takeovers have left the respective clubs with huge financial difficulties, the full extent of which is far from being seen. Why do we expect Kroenke’s ownership to be any different?
Tom: that is the way buying works. Debit and credit. That means he will pay it, but usually there is two or three months in between.
I would imagine that the current members of the board would decline any takeover of the club by Kroenke unless he proved beyond all doubt that he had the necessary finance to purchase the club without leveraging any debt on it, like what happened at Man U and Liverpool
Just wondering what your source is for some of the claims, or is it just speculation:
“Fundamentally the club will not change under Kroenke’s leadership. He believes in the way things are going. The only changes you will notice is away from football in terms of marketing and new promotions and innovations.”
“his imminent takeover is a defensive, not offensive move.”
“in Stan Kroenke Arsenal have a man who will continue to preserve the core foundations of the club while bringing us to the very fore in todays competitive sports industry.”
Just wondered…
Also, do not forget that it was not long ago that PHW savaged Kroenke, I can’t remember the exact phrase but his words were something along this lines of “not the kind of person we want to see associated with this club”.
He may be a better option than Usmanov, but that is all Kroenke is; the lesser of two evils.
Keep Arsenal as it is! We have had great success with the current ownership structure; they is no need to change it!
Hate to say it but this really does read like a press release…
Hope this is a) what you genuinely believe b) true.
Up the Gooners…
Tom: The £50m is to do with Fiszman’s tax bill. He has paid for every other share upfront and will continue to do so at a reasonable rate and time. Thus, Fiszman will not get his money until April (the start of the new financial year). Speculation also points at him not attempting a proper takeover until the next financial year – if he was to do so now he would have to buy every share at the highest price 1 share has gone for this year. If he waits till April, he can conceivably pay about 2 grand less on each share and it should save him between 80-100million on a full takeover. (That is unless Usmanov buys 1 share at 16k or something silly just to fuck with him, which is not out of the question.)
I recommened reading the great book ‘Arsénal: The Making of a Modern Super Club’ by Fynn and Whitcher, it explains a lot on this issue. But to put it in simple terms- Kroenke takes over, it won’t be leveraged on this clubs profits and it will be status quo – like Randy Lerner except he doesn’t need to stick his hand in his pocket for the team; Usmanov- imagine if Malcolm Glazer was a convicted felon and rapist.
Those who demonise David Dein should remember he initiated Arsene Wenger’s move to Arsenal. He is also a close personal friend of AW’s. Furthermore, he was the one who first championed the cause of Silent Stan to the board and was riduculed for it. Selah!
haho and Samuel: Thanks for clearing that up for me. I’m still not convinced that a takeover will be a good thing for the club. I’m sure Kroenke’s expertise in sports marketing can help, but do you expect his ownership leading to increased competiveness in the transfer market or just more debt?
I think it is mainly down to the Board and Kroenke working together to keeo the club from out of that Uzbek rapists cluthces. Whether or not Stan does take the club over, maybe dependant on whther that slime ball gets the message and f*cks off!
A hostile takeover is a phrase, hostile is not a description of the takeover. Interesting points.
Though I agree in principal with the majority of the post and am looking forward to what a Kroenke/Gazidis partnership will bring to the Arsenal, lets not overstate Stan’s effect on American sports. As an American myself, I can assure you that Denver is nowhere near “the number one sports capital of the US”. He was won one championship in hockey with the Colorado Avalanche, and one in American football with the St. Louis Rams in 1999 (obviously not in Denver). That’s it, no more, and certainly no more in Denver. As for the Rapids, they have been one of the worst teams in the MLS. Though he has given the supporters a new stadium, he has done little to nothing to make the team into a winner or market them to any great degree whatsoever. Rapids notwithstanding, his teams have at least been solid, but not bathed in any kind of silverware.
Still, all of that notwithstanding, I expect him to have a positive effect on the Arsenal. He appears to want to keep the traditions while bringing them into the next century technological and with their global marketing. Increasing Arsenal’s global standing, and thus increasing the cash in their coffers in the “right way” (as opposed to Man City, Chelsea, etc.), will only be a good thing.
Im not sure why you wrote this piece in this blog. In short we get to read a lot of material leaked from one camp or another, each telling us how great the intentions of one or the other prospective buyer is. In short Arsenal are better off without either. If it came to a choice between Kroenke or Usmanov and no other option i would choose Kroenke. The simple fact is though that Kroenke has not told anyone outside Arsenal what his plans are. I dont doubt your contacts in Arsenal Youth set up but i doubt you have good ones inside Kroenkes set up. What bought about this desire to write a Kroenke propaganda piece
Agree entirely Steve. I am proud that Arsenal is the only big club left in the country without a single owner; the current ownership structure prevents the club becoming the plaything of any one individual and the presence of so many long-time shareholders on the board (and outside it – ie Lady Nina) ensures that the clubs best interests are kept in mind constantly.
Though Kroenke may appear benevolent, we have no real indication of how he would act if sole owner of Arsenal; there is no reason to suspect that he has anything other than his own best interests at hear and these could well be to the detriment of the team.
Arsenal’s current owners (Kroenke and Usmanov excepted) add to the character of the club and are part of its history. There is no reason to let this come to an end!
As a fellow American, I’m with Frantz on this one. You’re crazy if you think Denver is the number one sports capital of the US. I’d like to know where you got that statement from. As for the huge sporting events coming to Denver, which ones are you talking about? The last “huge” sporting event to come to Denver was the 2005 NBA All Star game. Seems to me that you could have cut down on the hyperbole and gotten the same message across. Just my opinion.
Memba you reported the bothelho, di maria (almost!!) signings!?!!?? he was the one that got away!!??? bloody shame that one sun!??!! how do you rate the two players!!??
I would like kroenke as owner so long as the current boarders members are kept in the board.
I hope he does not borrow the money to buy the club from the banks then put the debt back onto the club like the Glazer family did with Manchester United, because if Stan Kroenke did that it would finish us IMO.
Thank you Frantz, I was coming to say the same thing. He has been a good owner in the various American leagues, but hardly the best in any one.
That being said, I am happy any time that I read or hear he has purchased more shares. I think something that everyone is forgetting is that he is obligated to make an offer once has has acquired 29.99% of the shares, but the board is not obligated to accept. The reason I am happy when he purchases shares is because we don’t have to worry about Usmanov snapping them up.
I read somewhere recently that between PHW, Kroenke and a few of the other board members they currently own over 50% of the shares. If this group, who by all accounts is acting in Arsenal’s best interest, can consolidate their holdings a little further it will eliminate the possibility of Usmanov obtaining the necesarry shares to make his own takeover offer.
In short, whether Kroenke does in fact takeover the club or not, I do not believe it will impact how the club is run, and if nothing else it will protect us from other potential owners with much less desirable motives. He’s simply protecting his own investment at this point.
Just to clarify on my points upthread- I am not a fan of a Kroenke takeover. I personally think Fiszman, who was the man who instigated the move to the new stadium, is who we should trust. However, it is very much looking like SK v. AU and in that battle of evils, Silent Stan is definitely the lesser. He will not effect the way the club is run or take away from the money we earn or change our debt structure. The way Usmanov plans to takeover however, is to exploit our existing debt and restructure it in a way that makes it seem less (i.e. we have to pay less every year but for longer meaning more immediate funds for the team) and ‘hide’ his takeover debt in it. This is the horror situation for Arsenal football club if we want to be a self sustaining football club.
And also, Dein may have got Wenger but the man is a total sleaze and all told hasn’t done very well for Arsenal. His handling of the pre-SKY TV rights, levelling the playing field to get the rest of the clubs to vote on the Premiership which meant piling more money into the pockets of other teams and us not really benefitting from the ‘step-up’, wanting to rent the old crumbling Wembley instead of moving to the Grove, being in charge of the naming rights and making no money on them compared to say United or Liverpool’s sponsership, messing up deals for players such as Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Ribery etc.
PHW was also in on the Wenger choice, so its not like he can even take full credit. And it isn’t like he was a complete unknown Dein pulled out of a hat – he nearly became Spurs manager in 94!
Denver is not the sports capital on the United States by a long shot. The Rapids, Rockies and Nuggets have been mediocre at best for close to a decade despite attracting star players. The Broncos have also had an up and down time recently.
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What on earth am I reading here?
ill informed crap* about being able to compete with ManU and Chelsea because someone who’s not fond of pumping money into his frachise/s is taking over the club?
…..and Denver is not the no.1 sports market in the states, nor have they ever been champions since his involvment. They were sub-par but now edging towards the elite.
Arsenal should be left to operate as it currently is. We are the envy of the afformentioned teams; why the fu@k will anyone want to change that.
N.B. To those expecting us to sign the likes of Christiano Ronaldo and Kaka; not gonna happen….esp with the introduction of the 50% tax bracket coming into play next year. Spain operates at approximately 24%, therefore La Liga will continue to offer better incentives (monitery wise) for such players than the EPL. Not to mention that they don’t get hacked down every time an opposing player feels they can’t match their skill.
If Kroenke or Usmanov go over the 30% they are required to bid for all reamining shares but no shareholder is obliged to sell, at any price, but he has to as pointed out by others offer the highest price paid by him in the last 12 months. So even if Usmanov got LAdy Nina shares or if Kroenke got Danny Fizsman shares, as long at the other two turn down the offer then no one can buy out the club. Mainly cos the AST shareholders have around 11% and they are totally opposed to selling, in fact they are trying to get lady Nina to either give her shares to them or join or at least side with them and so a combined holding by them of over 25% would mean they would never have to sell even if someone got the other 75% of shares, and this large block of shares opposing a single owner would mean banks and the like would not loan money for a takeover.
This scenario also applies to anyone getting 51% or more of the shares, they would have controlling rights but as long as a large block refuse to sell it would make it almost impossible for debt to be put on to the club from whoever buys the shares. Only when someone gets around 85% of shares can they force the buying of all shares and only then can the put debt incurred buying the shares onto the club.
So we can only hope Kroenke is buying shares to make it harder for Usmanov to buy Arsenal, or that Lady Nina, Usmanov, and AST refuse to sell and so block Kroenke to get total control of Arsenal, as I said if Lady Nina joins forces with AST I believe they would have enough shares to make sure no individual could ever get Arsenal 100%.
very critical samuel. I never new dein was involved with the transfer for arsenals and went so far as to actually mess them up. IMO i would take dein back as he is a gooner and has our best intersts at heart. He will make sure that our club is stable and not gonna go down the wrong track.
ridiculous article
are you really positive to the yank ****?
lol
I hate Stan Kroenke for trying to kill our club debt.
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good article… :)
great article and website.
3.5 bil fortune?! But, on second thought, I don’t think money alone can buy the championship.