West Ham have prepared a monster package in order to entice new investors to join the club.
At this moment in time, the ‘big 6’ is the weakest it’s ever been. Manchester United and, particularly, Chelsea have endured some awful seasons in recent years while clubs like West Ham, Aston Villa and Newcastle are all starting to break into Europe consistently.
Financially though, they are all quite a way off the elites (despite Newcastle having the richest owners in the world) due to FFP. However, it seems like West Ham are going to try and progress to the next level but, in order to do so, they require investment.
Following the tragic deaths of David Gold and his daughter Jacqueline, the Gold family have been looking to sell 10% of their 25.1% shares but have failed to find a suitable buyer. It seems that the amount of ownership the investor would receive is too little and, as a result, no one is interested.
Thankfully though, the owners are considering some huge changes in order to convince businesspeople to buy shares.
According to Sean Whetstone, both Daniel Kretinsky and David Sullivan may be willing to drop their ownership to 25% each in order to give an investor a combined package of 25%.
“Sources close to the Mergers and Acquisitions industry have suggested West Ham is looking for a new investor in the Middle East or elsewhere,” Whetstone posted on X.
“In one scenario, David Sullivan would sell 13.8% of his 38.8% shares, Daniel Kretinsky would sell 2% of his 27% holding and the Gold family would sell 9.2% of their 25.1% shareholding to create a new 25% shareholder package for a new investment partner. That would leave Sullivan, Kretinsky and a new partner with 25% each as equal partners. In that scenario, The Gold family would retain 15.9% shareholding, Tripp Smith 8% and Terry Brown & Daniel Harris the remaining 1.1%.”
He did add that “this is only one of several scenarios being considered to bring new investment to the club. The quest for new investment will be led by Vice Chairman Karren Brady.”
Investment into the club can only be a good thing for us fans. While the current owners are controversial, they know how to run the club well, steering us well clear of any sort of financial issues. Being able to have them in control with some more money behind the recruitment team could be the best possible scenario.