News Alerts
Headlines
Kroenke in with board on Arsenal lockdown
England - 29 October, 2007
Adjust font size:
Stan Kroenke said he likely will join the English Arsenal lockdown, agreeing to the no-sell edict that the club's board has followed to avoid takeover attempts.
Kroenke, who holds 12.2 percent of Arsenal, did not rule out one day taking another run at owning the club. For now, however, the U.S. sports franchise owner is content to be an investor in Arsenal.
Kroenke said the lockdown agreement now is valid to 2012.
The lockdown's original target was Kroenke, when the board made the deal earlier this year not to sell any shares until April 2008. With Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov now generating takeover talk by buying 23 percent of the club, Kroenke has been a board favourite, which has been hoping he would join the lockdown.
That's a contrast to when Kroenke first started buying into Arsenal. Arsenal chair Peter Hill-Wood said the club didn't need that sort of person owning the club. There was rancor as former vice-chairman David Dein had encouraged Kroenke to buy into the club.
The reclusive Kroenke was outspoken while in England to promote the NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants. He said the reason he bought into Arsenal was to tie his MLS Colorado Rapids club in with European football.
"Our executive started developing a relationship which we felt we needed with European football and we were building a stadium there in Colorado, a major project," Kroenke said. "Through that process we have got to know Arsenal in a different way. That's how we became as familiar as we are and eventually made the investment.
"It's a partnership at the moment. Everybody at the moment has a tendency to speed up but actually these things take a lot of time and a lot of effort and many years to develop. We tend to look in the long term. If you are an investor in a sports team and you don't look long-term you are probably not a good investor. This is a strategic investment for us."
Since then, it seems he and Dein have gone separate ways. Asked about his former conspirator, and Kroenke dodged giving a response.
Kroenke, who holds 12.2 percent of Arsenal, did not rule out one day taking another run at owning the club. For now, however, the U.S. sports franchise owner is content to be an investor in Arsenal.
Kroenke said the lockdown agreement now is valid to 2012.
The lockdown's original target was Kroenke, when the board made the deal earlier this year not to sell any shares until April 2008. With Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov now generating takeover talk by buying 23 percent of the club, Kroenke has been a board favourite, which has been hoping he would join the lockdown.
That's a contrast to when Kroenke first started buying into Arsenal. Arsenal chair Peter Hill-Wood said the club didn't need that sort of person owning the club. There was rancor as former vice-chairman David Dein had encouraged Kroenke to buy into the club.
The reclusive Kroenke was outspoken while in England to promote the NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants. He said the reason he bought into Arsenal was to tie his MLS Colorado Rapids club in with European football.
"Our executive started developing a relationship which we felt we needed with European football and we were building a stadium there in Colorado, a major project," Kroenke said. "Through that process we have got to know Arsenal in a different way. That's how we became as familiar as we are and eventually made the investment.
"It's a partnership at the moment. Everybody at the moment has a tendency to speed up but actually these things take a lot of time and a lot of effort and many years to develop. We tend to look in the long term. If you are an investor in a sports team and you don't look long-term you are probably not a good investor. This is a strategic investment for us."
Since then, it seems he and Dein have gone separate ways. Asked about his former conspirator, and Kroenke dodged giving a response.
Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 -
All rights reserved.
© Copyright message
The copying, republication, redistribution or web posting (including by framing or similar means) of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of euFootball.BIZ
-
Finance
Television
Sponsorship
Marketing
Technology
Competitions
Clubs
Stadia-Facilities
Legal
Administration