Kroenke’s move, which cost him around £46 million, means
a club once known as “The Bank of England” is now majority owned by
overseas investors, with Uzbek minerals tycoon Alisher Usmanov
owning close to 25 per cent.
Kroenke paid between £8,500 and £10,500 per-share, well above
the recent average price of £6,500, for 4,839 shares controlled by
the Carr family, long-term members of the Arsenal board. He bought
the shares from a group of shareholders affiliated to the Carr and
Bracewell-Smith families: Richard Carr, grandson of former chairman
Lord Bracewell Smith, Clive Carr and Lady Sarah Phibbs-Bagge.
Richard Carr, who sold his 4.4 per cent stake to Kroenke for more
than £25 million, will remain as a director of the football
club.
Lady Nina Bracewell Smith, who owns 15.9 per cent of the club
and was forced off the board in December last year, has not sold
any of her shares. Kroenke’s move further isolates her.
His next move could be to mount a full takeover, which would be
obligatory if his stake rises above 30 per cent. For now his
alliance with Danny Fiszman, from whom he bought a tranche of
shares in March, forms the club’s axis of power.
Peter Hill-Wood, Chairman of Arsenal, said: “I would like to pay
tribute to the long-standing commitment that the Carr family has
shown towards Arsenal. The Club is hugely indebted to them for the
role that they have played in the development and success of the
Club over the years.”