West Ham chairman Daniel Kretinsky may be forced into a full takeover if he meets this one requirement.

While he might have taken a back seat when it comes to West Ham, there is no doubt that Daniel Kretinsky’s investment into the club has had a massive impact on their transfer budget over the past couple of years.

He currently owns 27% of the Hammers after buying £190 million worth of shares back in 2021.  He has not shown any signs of wanting to purchase any more of the club, if he did it would more than likely trigger a bid for a full takeover. 

According to Claret and Hugh, if he was to purchase a further 3% or more then he would trigger what is called “rule 9.”

“Where a bidder is interested in shares carrying 30per cent or more of the voting share rights, the bidder must make a mandatory offer in cash at no less than the highest price paid during the preceding 12 months,” Sean Whetstone explained.

“A Rule 9 waiver is available but only if the UK takeover panel agrees. There is no indication whether Kretinsky wishes to increase his shareholding beyond the 27 per cent level but this could be the main reason he hasn’t attempted to buy the 10 per cent the Gold family trust has put up for sale.”

The Czech billionaire has a habit of buying into businesses and selling for a profit rather than taking an active role. Taking this into account, it is hard to imagine he would want to have any sort of majority ownership at West Ham.