New shares buyout adds to turmoil at Arsenal

New shares buyout adds to turmoil at Arsenal

The prospects of a hostile takeover of Arsenal by Alisher Usmanov increased yesterday after it was announced that the Uzbekistan billionaire has taken his holding to 21 per cent, making him the Barclays Premier League leaders’ second-biggest shareholder. Sources close to Usmanov said that a takeover bid is not imminent, although gaining overall control of the club is his long-term intention.

The tangled web is complicated by Arsène Wenger’s friendship with David Dein, the former vice-chairman of Arsenal who presented himself last month as the chairman of Red and White Holdings, Usmanov’s investment vehicle, although the manager was quick to make clear his scepticism about the need for new investment at the club.

Dein was introduced to Usmanov, a Moscow-based steel magnate, after being ousted from the Arsenal board in April, but he returned to the scene three weeks ago by selling him his 14.58 per cent shareholding. Usmanov has acted speedily to increase his stake further, with the vast bulk of the extra 6.4 per cent shares announced yesterday sold to him by Lansdowne Partners, the investment company that held about 3 per cent.

Usmanov is believed to have paid as much as ￡10,250 per share for Lansdowne’s stake - way above the market price of ￡8,000 – while securing a further 0.5 per cent from smaller shareholders for about ￡2.6 million. The speed with which the steel tycoon and Dein have acted will be seen as an aggressive statement of intent, which the club are determined to resist.

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Wenger said on the eve of the club’s opening Champions League group match against Seville at the Emirates Stadium tonight: “Of course you care who is on the board because some people are more intrusive than others. But the tradition at Arsenal Football Club has always been for a manager to do his work like he wants to do it. What is important to me is that the board have faith in me and let me work like I want to work. It's difficult to be successful when there is no harmony.”

The Arsenal board has an agreement preventing it trading in shares until next April, which it is considering extending for another 12 months. Danny Fiszman, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith and Richard Carr, the leading shareholders, have said that they will not sell, giving Usmanov limited options because Stan Kroenke, the American billionaire, has also rejected the opportunity to work with Red and White after extensive conversations with Dein.

“The directors don’t need to reassure me because they have already said they don’t need to sell,” Wenger said. “For me it looks to be settled, the situation at the club. We are in a position where I don’t feel there’s uncertainty surrounding the ownership.”