West Ham are currently the subject of a high-level battle for shares ownership & control of the club, with ExWHUEmployee reporting the current state of the situation.

It is a busy and dramatic time in east London, with a vital season in the Championship approaching and promotion being the hugely important target for the campaign.

The drama off the pitch is a distraction the club could do without, although there has been assurances made that it will have no impact on the clubs summer business in the transfer market.

Reporting on The West Ham Way Patreon, our insider provided his view on the current situation at the boardroom level, with Daniel Kretinsky now showing his hand in the battle for power and control at West Ham.

“The latest on the share ownership after the Times story this morning revealing that Daniel Kretinsky is selling more than 2% of this shareholding to a fellow Czech businessman,” stated Ex.

“Kretinsky has obviously had enough and is throwing his gloves down as he looks to counter a move by Amanda Staveley to out manoeuvre him on buying the Gold shares.

“Kretinsky’s master plan, is to sell around 2.2% of his 27% shareholding to Jakub Havrlant, the CEO and founder of Rockway Capital based in Daniel’s native Prague.

“The sale is subject to being offered to existing shareholders first in pre-emptive rights so David Sullivan, Vanessa Gold, Tripp Smith, Terry Brown and Daniel Harris would have first refusal in round one of the process.

“We don’t know the sale price, but it possibly matches Amanda Staveley’s price per share, which would cost Havrlant £13.2m – valuing West Ham at £600m.

“If no existing shareholder buys a preposition of Kretinsky’s 2.2% in round one in 30 days, there would be no round two and Havrlant would be free to buy the small stake in West Ham.

“This would leave Daniel Kretinsky with 24.8% of the shares in West Ham’s holding company.

“In parallel the sale of Gold’s 25.1% would also enter round one offering shares to existing shareholders

“David Sullivan is entitled to buy 13% of West Ham for £77.7m

“Daniel Kretinsky can buy 9% of West Ham for £54m

“Tripp Smith can buy 2.68% of West Ham for £16m

“Terry Brown and Daniel Harris could buy 0.37% of West Ham for £2.3m

“In the scenario that Daniel Kretinsky is the only existing shareholder to buy his 9% entitlement for round one for £77.7m, he would be the only person to enter round two.

“In round two, which runs for another 30 days, he would be offered the remaining 16.1% for £72.3m taking his overall shareholding to 49.9%

“The 49.9% figure is important, as a private shareholder agreement from 2021 states that he must buy David Sullivan’s 38.8% at an inflated price if his shareholding passes 50% – which he is keen to avoid.

“This is a clever move by the Czech billionaire as it means between his Czech mate and himself as they will potentially control West Ham with 52.1% of the voting rights without triggering a clause to pay through the nose for Sullivan’s shares.

“This would completely shut Amanda Staveley out of her Gold shares offer and even if she tries a different strategy to buy David Sullivan shares. In that scenario, Daniel Kretinksy would have first refusal to buy those shares too at the offer price and not the 2021 private share agreement inflated price.

“It appears he is now playing Amanda Staveley at her own game.

“One last food for thought, maybe Vanessa Gold and her advisors played Amanda Staveley and Dnaiel Kretinsky into this share drama to force the Czech billionaire into a deal.

“The Gold family will get their money out either way and at a higher price than the original price offered by Kretinsky, so well played by Vanessa.”