On 17 October Arsenal shareholders' Alisher Usmanov & Farhad Moshiri company, Red & White Securities Limited, increased its stake to just over 30%, on the same day that the club held its AGM at the Emirates.
The figure, understood to be 18,671 shares, usually triggers a mandatory full takeover bid that would require the Uzbek to make an offer for all remaining shares, which are by and large held by Stan Kroenke, current majority shareholder.
Though the figure represents the passing of a symbolic threshold, it is unlikely to result in any day-to-day difference at Arsenal. Whilst giving Usmanov effectively 30% of voting rights at Arsenal, this is more than doubled by Kroenke, who owns 66.83% of shares. In effect Usmanov would have to buy shares off Kroenke to have a significant say, which is highly unlikely.
What’s the better option for Arsenal?
News of Usmanov’s increased stake elicited much debate among Arsenal fans across the blogosphere. Indeed both men have their merits as well as their drawbacks.
Usmanov
Usmanov has repeatedly stressed his support for Arsene Wenger, describing him as “one of the best coaches in the world”. However, his arrival would likely destabilise a club recovering from financial inferiority. Furthermore stating otherwise would hinder his attempts to own the club.
A Red & White Securities Limited takeover would certainly prove financially beneficial to Arsenal in the short-term. Usmanov’s wealth greatly eclipses Roman Abramovich’s. As he has announced before, he would be fully supportive of big money signings.
He would arguably run the club similarly to Abramovich at Chelsea. Despite his own contestations on the contrary, Usmanov owning Arsenal would be a threat to Wenger.
Kroenke
Stan Kroenke on the other hand, though never experiencing universal popularity in the red half of North London, seems to be running the club well.
Whilst on the surface he appears uninterested in football, indeed spending most of his time in America, where he owns several sports teams, this might not be a bad thing. Kroenke’s hands-off approach means important day-to-day affairs are left to experts. He may be in it for the money, but he knows success is key to that.
Arsenal appear to be heading in the right track. The financial difficulties of the past few seasons have been overcome and the club is competing with the top clubs in Europe again.
There is no denying that there are still problems regarding the club’s transfer policy, noticeably the failure this summer.
Nonetheless, if Kroenke sold his shares to Usmanov, I suspect the club would be worse off for it.
Latest:
