Arsenal must prepare itself for a takeover bid from
Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, according to football
consultant Alex Fynn.
Fynn has advised several Premier League clubs including
Arsenal.
He told BBC London 94.9: "If you're an Arsenal fan you should be
concerned, but you should be more concerned if (director) Danny
Fiszman waivers.
"He's been the rock around which the new stadium was built and
if he waivers then there's a problem." <!-- E SF -->
Fynn continued: "He's the man who has only a slightly less share
than Mr Usmanov - he has about 24%.
"If he stays firm then I think then it would be a problem for
anybody else to run a hostile bid, not withstanding the fact that
the board now have a minority of the shares."
Red and White Holdings, of which Usmanov is a co-owner,
increased its stake in Arsenal to 25% on Monday.
A formal takeover bid could be launched by Usmanov if the
group's stake was to reach 30%.
Fynn said: "It's significant because it make him (Usmanov) the
largest shareholder.
"The other reading is that Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith left the
board in December and her 16% holding is in the balance.
"She is therefore freed from the lockdown agreement, which meant
that no director can sell their holding before April.
"Then they must give a first option to one another before they
can sell anything, so Arsenal are in a state of flux at the
moment.
"It's a dangerous situation when you own less than 40% of the
company and that is the situation since Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith
left the board. Arsenal are in a very vulnerable state.
"If any determined predator wishes to throw money, and they'd
have to throw an awful lot of money, then they could take over the
company."
Fynn, who is also author of the book Arsenal: The Making of a
Modern Superclub, says he would be opposed to a takeover.
He said: "Its a bad thing because the current board are
custodians of the club, they've always run the club (without) any
ego.
"They're most unusual, they're the old-style partition
directors, they believe they've been fortunate to inherit their
stake on the board and as such they regard themselves not as owners
but as custodians.
"They have masterminded the move from Highbury and if you take
into account their property turnover, the group turnover is way
over £200m and it is the third largest football enterprise in the
world.
"It's much higher than the recent Deloitte rich-list has shown
simply because they have done so well in property.
"They have a billionaire who's come in, Stan Kroenke is on the
board. Moreover he is not a hostile newcomer to the board and he
has the sort of experience that Arsenal were lacking before his
arrival.
"When you add the new chief executive Ivan Kazidis, who has
exactly the right experience in marketing terms that they've also
been missing for a long time, then the Arsenal board is much
stronger in terms of personality, experience and loyalty than it
has been for a long time.
"The great danger though is they own less than 50% of the club
now." <!-- E BO -->