As expected, Arsenal fans are having a meltdown over the news that American tycoon Stan Kroenke might possibly possess full ownership of the club.
The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) group has released a statement following the news that Stan Kroenke is on the verge of completing a full takeover of the club. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) released a statement of its own on Tuesday morning to the London Stock Exchange, announcing that Alister Usmanov’s Red and White Securities had agreed to sell its 30.05 per cent stake in the club for around £600 million, valuing the club at £1.8 billion.
The news has been met by widespread concern amongst the Arsenal fanbase and the AST have made their feelings known in a statement released via their social media channels.
Statement
“This news marks a dreadful day for Arsenal Football Club. Stan Kroenke taking the Club private will see the end of supporters owning shares in Arsenal and their role upholding custodianship values. By taking the Club private Stan Kroenke will be able to implement the following detrimental actions:
- Pay management fees and dividends without any check or balance
- No Annual General Meeting to hold the Board to account
- Remove the Independent Directors
- Place debt onto Arsenal to support his other business interests
“The AST is also extremely concerned to note that this purchase is being funded by a loan. The most dreadful part of this announcement is the news that Kroenke plans to forcibly purchase the shares held by Arsenal fans. Many of these fans are AST members and hold their shares not for value but as custodians who care for the future of the club. Kroenke’s actions will neuter their voice and involvement. It is in effect legalised theft to remove shareholder scrutiny on how Arsenal is managed. The AST is wholly against this takeover. Arsenal remains too important to be owned by any one person.”
Kroenke grew up in Mora, Missouri, an unincorporated community with a population of approximately two dozen, where his father owned Mora Lumber Company.
His first job was sweeping the floor at his father’s lumber yard. By age 10 he was keeping the company’s books. In a September 2011 interview with The Telegraph newspaper, Kroenke said he was lucky — both as a youngster and later in life — to be surrounded by family and friends who saw the value of attaining a good education, which he said contributed to his success. At Cole Camp (Missouri) High School, he played baseball, basketball and ran track.
Kroenke obtained a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Missouri.
He founded the Kroenke Group in 1983, a real estate development firm that has built numerous shopping centers and apartment buildings. Since his marriage to Walton, he has been in the special position to develop many of the plazas near Walmart stores.
He is also the chairman of THF Realty, an independent real estate development company that specializes in suburban development. He founded this corporation in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1991. In 2016, THF’s portfolio was valued at more than $2 billion, including more than 100 projects totaling 20 million square feet, primarily in retail shopping centers.
In 2006, Kroenke, in partnership with the money manager Charles Banks, acquired the Napa Valley winery Screaming Eagle. (In April 2009, Banks said he was no longer involved with Screaming Eagle.)
Kroenke is a major owner of working ranches, owning a total of 848,631 acres. The Land Report magazine ranked him as the United States’ ninth-largest landowner in 2015. Among notable purchases is his February 2016 acquisition of the famous Waggoner Ranch in Texas, the largest ranch within one fenceline.
In August 2017, he came under fire for launching a new outdoor sports television channel that was unveiled in the United Kingdom and will show regular hunting programmes that include killing elephants, lions and other vulnerable African species.
Kroenke is the largest shareholder of Premier League association football club Arsenal. Arsenal already had a technical link-up with Kroenke’s Colorado Rapids when in April 2007 Granada Ventures, a subsidiary of ITV plc, had sold its 9.9% stake in Arsenal Holdings plc to Kroenke’s KSE UK inc. Kroenke went on to buy further shares in the club, taking his total stake up to 12.19%. The club’s board initially expressed skepticism that a bid would be in its best interests, but gradually warmed to him as part of counteracting Alisher Usmanov’s rival bid for the club.
By June 2008, the board had prepared to let Kroenke take over the club, and on September 19, 2008, it was officially announced that Kroenke had joined the Arsenal board of directors. Kroenke had a beneficial interest in, and controlled voting rights, over 18,594 shares, representing 29.9% of the issued shares. Thus, he was nearing the maximum 29.99% threshold, beyond which he would be forced to make an offer for all remaining shares.
On April 10, 2011, it was reported that Kroenke was in advanced talks to complete the takeover of Arsenal. The following day, it was announced that he increased his shareholding in Arsenal to 62.89% by purchasing the stakes of Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, and agreed to make an offer for the rest of the club at £11,750 per share, valuing the club at £731M.
In July 2018, he made an offer to take complete control of the club