West Ham have been valued at £400m and Joint Chairman David Sullivan has suggested he would still welcome an investor to take 20% of the Hammers off his hands for around £80m.
The two Davids bought 50% of the club for around £52m in 2010 valuing the club at £105m. The purchase took the form of cash to the Icelandic owners plus injection of cash into the club to help running costs.
Since the takeover Gold and Sullivan have increased their shareholding to 86.2% with Sullivan retaining a controlling share of 51.1%.
A trusted source close to the club told Claret and Hugh that the owners have always wanted someone to join them and were still hoping for that to be the case.
He said: “Now it is unlikely but of course you never know. It could be a group of people or one person, but its very unlikely.”
West Ham accounts released this week show that Gold and Sullivan have loaned the club £49.2m over the four years with over£6m in accrued interest to date increasing at a rate of around £3m per year.
The chairman invested another £3m of their own money in the last financial year in share holders despite the club making a paper profit of £10.3m.
There will be investors out there:
The three main factors are:
1. The astute running of the club as a business by G & S
2. The current success of the team (top half is likely, top six still possible)
3. The impending move to the OS.
It is also true that top quality players are attracted as a club becomes more successful and develops a higher international profile.
Investors weigh opportunity against risk. The opportunity for the club’s growth is increasing all the time.