Huge Arsenal Turnover Prompts Arsenal Takeover

Arsenal have overtaken both Chelsea and Manchester United to become the second richest football club in the world, behind only Real Madrid. The move to the Emirates stadium is said to be responsible for £190 million gunners turnover for the 2006/07 season.

With the most expensive tickets in the Premiership, it is not too startling that Arsenal earn a massive £3.5 million a match at the 60,432 seat Emirates.

In such a successful club, it is unsurprising to hear that investors are willing to buy more shares. It should come as no surprise then that nearly perfectly coinciding with the announcement of Arsenal's turnover, came talk of an Arsenal takeover.

Alisher Usmanov's investment company, Red and White Holdings, recently bought David Dein's 14.58% share of the club, already prompting takeover talks. Usmanov has since then been buying small quantities of Arsenal shares, snapping up 271 shares soon after buying David Dein's holdings. Now it seems that he has bought more than 3% more of Arsenal's shares, bringing his total ownership to more than 18%, making him the second largest stockholder behind only Danny Fiszman.

Fiszman has declared (along with the rest of the Arsenal board) that he will not sell his 24% stake in the club, and the total holdings of the board (44%) will make it difficult for a hostile takeover to come through. However, Fiszman is not averse to meeting with Kroenke or Usmanov.

However, American businessman Stan Kroenke who owns a 12% stake in Arsenal could join forces with Usmanov, bringing their total ownership to 40%, enough to be obliged to launch a formal takeover bid.

Personally, I think that we are a financially stable club, and with Arsene Wenger's frugal hand in the transfer market, I can't see how a takeover would benefit us. Let's hope these takeover talks don't come true - we don't want foreign ownership like Manchester United and Chelsea.

Arsenal Chairman to meet Russian billionaire

Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood has claimed that "the major shareholders have no intention of selling and wouldn't welcome an offer." However, he has publicly stated that he is going to meet Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who has reportedly been contemplating an Arsenal takeover move.

Usmanov, who recently bought David Dein's 14.58% share in Arsenal, seems to be interested in taking over Arsenal, despite the fact that the club's Board of Directors (which controls 45% of the Arsenal's shares) has stated its unwillingness to sell.

Hill-Wood explained why he would be meeting with Usmanov saying, "We will have a dialogue with any principal or major shareholder. If they've got some sensible proposals we'll listen to them." Disregarding the possibility of a takeover, I'm not quite sure what type of proposals these would be.

However, I think that in the unlikely case of a foreign takeover of Arsenal, we would benefit greatly. Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea have all benefited from overseas money, and I think that Arsenal could do the same. While we have a lot of promise this season, if we were to add a few experienced world-class players to our squad we could become the best team in the world.

David Dein sells his shares of Arsenal to Red and White

David Dein, the former vice-chairman of Arsenal, today held a press conference in which he stated that he had sold his 14.58% stake in the club to Red and White. Red and White, jointly owned by Russian businessman Aliser Ushmanov and London-based investor Farhad Moshiri, purchased the shares for £75million, and instated Dein as its chairman. Dein has reported that there is no "current intention" to mount a takeover bid, but there have reportedly been funds set aside by Red and White to purchase more shares of the club.

Dein, who had been an important figure at Arsenal prior to leaving the club, has said that this move does not mean that he is losing interest in the club.

"I have not lost my passion for the club; indeed, it is greater than ever. My ambition remains to play an active role in Arsenal again. My immediate intention is to work with others to provide the financial resources necessary to turn the vision of Arsenal as the world's number one club into reality."

Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman has stated that the board of directors (which together controls a 45% stake in the club) will hold firm to its earlier agreement that no stocks will be sold for a year after Dein's departure, and is confident that their share is enough to hold off any attempted takeover bid.

However, it is speculated that Red and White could team up with American billionaire Stan Kroenke who controls around 30% of the club. If they were to join together they would control a total almost equal to the 45% that the board shares. This would let them make some major decisions in the club, even though it would not be enough to launch a takeover.

I think that this move is a good one on Dein's part. First of all it will encourage Arsene Wenger to re-sign, as one of the major reasons for the rumors of his departure was the fact that Dein had left the club. If Dein and Kroenke (and Red and White) were to purchase Arsenal, it would be under foreign control, following the suit of many other major Premiership teams, including Manchester United and of course Chelsea. This would inject a large amount of cash into the clubs coffers and most definitely allow for some high-profile signings, although with Arsene at the helm, we are unlikely to buy anyone overpriced. I think overall, having David Dein back would make any takeover a good move for Arsenal.