The Arsenal Supporters Trust (AST) has refused to sell their shares in Arsenal FC to Stan Kroenke after the American businessman launched a formal takeover bid for the club. Kroenke officially acquired a majority ownership of Arsenal on Monday after increasing his holding from just under 30% to 63%, which triggered a legal obligation for him to attempt to buy shares from all other stakeholders, including Alisher Usmanov (27%) and the AST, a fan-ownership group that controls about £500,000 worth of shares:
Arsenal Supporters Trust Refuses To Sell To Stan Kroenke
Arsenal is too important to be owned by any one person. The AST wants to work with Stan Kroenke to keep Arsenal supporters involved in the club’s ownership structure. The AST and the Arsenal Fanshare scheme will not be selling the shares it owns and urges all supporters to reject this offer.
Although the shares directly under the control of the AST are more or less insignificant (<0.1%), it is believed that Usmanov, who many thought was going to attempt to mount a full takeover bid of his own, will also not be selling his shares to Kroenke. It’s not entirely clear what Kroenke’s intent is here - the takeover attempt was a legal obligation rather than an apparently deliberate attempt to gain full ownership of the club. Will he be happy with a 63% holding?
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