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No American owner for Arsenal
18/04/2007 20:39 - (SA)
London - Arsenal board members owning 45.5% of the English football club have pledged not to sell their stakes.
Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairperson, said he would be "horrified" to see the club owned by an American.
Vice-chairperson David Dein, who holds 14.5%, resigned on Wednesday afternoon with immediate effect because of
unspecified "irreconcilable differences" between him and the
rest of the board, Arsenal said.
The turn of events comes less than a month after a US
sports team owner acquired more than 10% of Arsenal.
The club's remaining board members said that they remain
long-term holders.
"To this effect, they have entered into an agreement not to
dispose of their shares for at least one year and have confirmed
that they intend to retain their interests on the expiration of
this period," they said in a statement.
Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chair, said in an interview
with the UK's Guardian newspaper that he and three of the club's
majority shareholders - Danny Fiszman, Nina Bracewell-Smith and
the Carr family - had "no intention of selling to some
stranger".
Independently wealthy
"They are independently wealthy and do not need the money,"
Hill-Wood said in the interview published on Wednesday. "Having
a few extra million pounds in the bank is of no interest to
them. We're here for Arsenal Football Club, not to make a few
bob. We would be horrified to see it go across the Atlantic."
Stan Kroenke, co-owner of the NFL's St Louis Rams, agreed
earlier in April to buy a 10% stake of Arsenal and a
share of Arsenal Broadband Ltd from UK broadcaster ITV Plc
for 65m pounds. He later bought
more shares from other owners.
US investors have been increasingly interested in the
English league, the largest and most profitable in world
football.
Five-time European champions Liverpool were recently bought
by US tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks for 174m
pounds while league leader Manchester United were bought by
Malcolm Glazer for 790m pounds in 2005.
Arsenal is the only club of the top four in the league still
in British hands. "We don't have to follow the herd," Hill-Wood
told the Guardian.
- Reuters
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