2009 was always going to be an interesting year for Arsenal.
Are you ready for this one : Breaking News :
RED & WHITE SHARE POSITION IN ARSENAL HOLDINGS PLC
Red & White Holdings Limited (“Red & White”) today announces that it now holds a stake in excess of 25% in Arsenal Holdings plc (“Arsenal”).
The increase in the shareholding is in line with Red & White’s previously stated intention to secure a significant shareholding in Arsenal and ensure that its position is protected.
Commenting on the announcement, Red & White said: “We are pleased to have now secured over a quarter of the shares of Arsenal. We are committed long-term investors and supporters of the Club and are comfortable that we are now in a protected position. We also welcome the strengthening of the squad and look forward to a successful conclusion to the season.”
So it looks like a poker game. Usmanov has 15,555 shares and there are 62,219 shares in total, so he has exactly 25% of Arsenal’s shares.
He will not make an offer for the club now but if he does at some time in the future he would have to offer a share price that was the average of the price he had paid for his shares over the previous 12 months.
The key word here is “protected”
Usmanov’s 25% gives him veto over “constitutional changes” to the company but since he is a long-term investor who supports the direction of the management and the board, he does not really need such “protection”. He has been talking to Danny Fiszman recently and we have, up till now, assumed that Fiszman would not do anything spectacular without first informing Usmanov. Even though Fiszman has brought Stan Kroenke onto the board but not Usmanov, who has almost twice as many shares at the American.
Usmanov is playing a long game.