TalkSPORT’s Simon Jordan believes it’s only a matter of time before Daniel Kretinsky takes complete control over the club.
The former owner of Crystal Palace has compared the Czech billionaire’s Hammers swoop to how Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke started accumulating shares before eventually taking complete control at the Emirates.
The White and Jordan host said: “I would suspect this is a precursor to this guy [Kretinsky] owning the football club.
“And also that [David] Sullivan and [David] Gold have positioned themselves from this particular starting point as having someone in the building who may well be their exit strategy.”
Jordan’s speculation is flawed because he has made the wrong comparison, he has compared the Czech Sphinx to Stan Kroenke when perhaps he should have compared him to US billionaire investor Warren Buffet.
Buffet became one of the richest men in the world by investing in undervalued stock buying minority stakes in other companies. Kretinskey follows this same investment pattern show history of taking many minority stakes in companies such as Royal Mail, Sainsbury’s, Footlocker, Maceys, Metro and Casino. He has owned 40% of Czech club Sparta Prague for 17 years without increasing his stake to become a majority owner.
Why Jordan is wrong is that Kratinsky can never own more than 30% of West Ham without failing the premier league rules about ownership of another club, ie. 40% of Sparta Prague.
The only way for him not to fail the premier leagues fit and proper persons test and own more than 30% of West Ham would be to sell his shares in Sparta Prague.
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Mr Kretinsky already had a buyer for his Sparta Prague shares. Simon Jordan is a shrewd observer of football finance and is rarely wrong in his summarising on such matters.
I can’t see why Gold and Sullivan would want to sell up at this particular point in time. Surely the value of WH can only go higher. This is probably the best time ever that I have known being a hammer fan since 1963. Just doesn’t make sense.
…..Because they’re not exactly young men? David Gold at 85, especially. And they would want to make sure that the new owner(s) were the right calibre to take the club onwards and upwards. Gold and Sullivan have just about taken the club as far as they can. They’re not rich enough to compete with the owners of the Pig 6.