It had all gone quiet since the extended lockdown agreement, but with Red and White Holdings getting to 14,948 shares or just over 24% of Arsenal Holdings, yesterday, the key hole is jangling.
RWH paid £1.7m for 190 shares at £9,000 apiece, around £1000 above the market price, taking them to just under lead shareholder behind Danny Fiszman.
Red & White said it was still the intention to take its stake to about 25%. “That has not changed. We are long-term investors,” said a spokeman who added they were not preparing to launch a takeover bid and claimed they were simply sticking to their stated plan of building up a stake of 25%. “We said we would aim for 25 per cent and that’s what we are trying to do,” he said.
RWH bought 189 shares, roughly half a per cent, from one shareholder in a single trade.
Usmanov passed the threshold when investors are required under Stock Exchange rules to announce increases in their shareholdings. The purchase takes RWH spending in Arsenal to just below pounds £120m.
The lockdown, borne from the potential threat from Stan Kroenke (who owns 12.2%) and extended by the board post Usmanov, expires in April 2009 and prevents any Arsenal board member from trading shares. After the lockdown expires, board members have first option on each other’s shares until October 2012, although the agreement can be terminated in October 2010. The lockdown agreement has brought Arsenal’s share price down.
The RWH announcement comes hard on the heels of a Vietnamese story, saying Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman and 55% shareholder of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, said he’s already discussed the idea of buying into the London club with the Arsenal management after his company recently signed a long-term cooperation deal for Arsenal to train football players in Vietnam.
“I have plans for Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group to buy up to 20% stake in Arsenal in the next several years,” Duc told Dow Jones Newswires on Friday.
Who from? Will a US-Asian marketing tie up be foster an ownership agreement?
The synchronicity opens up the possibility of Usmanov selling his stake to the Vietnamese businessman, certainly not now, as stated, but some time in the future?
Who is this Duc guy. He, is a property developer and wooden furniture manufacturer and one of Vietnam’s richest men ($1.59bn company assets), and his company owns Hoa Anh Gia Lai football club, which is ranked as one of the top three clubs in Vietnam’s national league.
Meanwhile, this year’s Deloitte Football Rich List ( 06-07 season)had largely positive messages for Arsenal. They moved up to fifth from ninth, largely on the back of increased match day revenues. But they are £18m behind Chelsea and £34m behind Man U who are second to Real Madrid on £236m.
(pounds) (euros)
1 (1) Real Madrid 236.2 351.0
2 (4) Manchester United 212.1 315.2
3 (2) Barcelona 195.3 290.1
4 (6) Chelsea 190.5 283.0
5 (9) Arsenal 177.6 263.9
6 (5) AC Milan 153.0 227.2
7 (8) Bayern Munich 150.3 223.3
8 (10) Liverpool 133.9 198.9
9 (7) Inter Milan 131.3 195.0
10 (12) AS Roma 106.1 157.6
11 (15) Tottenham Hotspur 103.1 153.1
12 (3) Juventus 97.7 145.2
13 (11) Olympique Lyon 94.6 140.6
14 (13) Newcastle United 87.1 129.4
15 (16) Hamburg SV 81.0 120.4
16 (14) Schalke 04 76.9 114.3
17 (n/a) Celtic 75.2 111.8
18 (n/a) Valencia 72.4 107.6
19 (n/a) Olympique Marseille 66.6 99.0
20 (n/a) Werder Bremen 65.5 97.3
Arsenal’s gate receipts were £90.6m; commercial was at £42.7m and broadcasting £44.3m.
Chelsea with a lower ground capacity had £74.5 gate receipts, but higher commercial revenues at £56.5m and higher broadcasting income at £59.6m, no doubt helped by longer runs in the FA Cup and Champions League.
Man U’s gate receipts were only £2.5m more than Arsenal’s on a 15,000 higher capacity stadium. But commercial income was around £15m more than Arsenal’s, and broadcasting more than £17m more at £61.5m – again helped by longer cup runs.
Previous years for reference:
http://www.anr.uk.com/articles/i-2005-02-17-18-40-18.html
http://www.anr.uk.com/articles/i-2004-03-03-12-08-07.html
And here’s what I wrote on the DFRL on ANR a decade ago:
Perhaps more important is the fact that Arsenal are “officially the 20th richest club in the world”. I put inverted commas rounds because the figures from Deloitte Touche, are based on the 1996/7 season. Arsenal are assigned £27.2m turnover. Spurs incidentally are16th on £27.9m. Considering Manchester United are at £87.9m, the Championship victory is a tribute to the footballing brains and skills at Highbury – and a refreshing reminder that football is not all about money.
For the record Arsenal are the sixth richest in the UK -see table on right.
Also when the next season’s figures come out, Arsenal are sure to jump up the league because of the Championship purse etc;