West Ham United’s second-largest shareholder, Daniel Kretinsky, is closing in on his £3.6 billion bid to take over Royal Mail, with confirmation expected in the next fortnight.
The Czech billionaire’s pursuit of the deal hasn’t been straightforward, requiring additional concessions to secure agreement.
However, those hoping this acquisition might see Kretinsky dedicating more time to West Ham should reconsider. His heart remains with Sparta Prague, where he’s chairman and majority owner. The 49-year-old is preparing to invest £155 million in a new stadium for the Czech club, demonstrating where his priorities lie.
While Kretinsky holds a 27% stake in West Ham and has the option to purchase the remaining shares, his focus remains divided.
With a personal fortune of £7.1 billion, his business empire spans retail, media, and energy. His energy group, EPH, boasts assets valued at £15 billion.
Royal Mail’s current owners have recommended shareholders accept Kretinsky’s offer, making the long-delayed deal highly likely to close soon.
Matt, I have noticed quite a few of your comments on this site, and I have to say, I am reading them, and nodding in total agreement with them all
I just say it as I see it tbh.
Drives me insane when agendas or certain news stories take on a narrative that in my eyes are not entirely accurate.or serve an alternate purpose.
We’re a small investment in his portfolio.
He’s an investor. His only interest in West Ham is to gain financially from his shares in the future.
Without his investment we would still have a large debt due to GSB using loans with interest charged against the club. This would further impact on our spending capacity player wise due to the PSR / APT regulations.
At least Kretinsky wiped out the GSB debt they used to buy the club.
Seems clear that he could afford to buy the club outright if he wanted to, but not at any price.
The lack of stadium ownership is a major constraint on growing the business.
Also, if the so called wonder deal we have on the stadium lease ties us into the place for ever then I can’t see any investor being interested.
The fact that Boris Johnson & Brady raved about the London Stadium deal tells you everything you need to know.
It was bad for the tax payer and horrendous from a commercial growth point of view compared to building our own state of the art football stadium like Spurs.
No wonder Brady doesn’t want a Regulator with tightened rules for potential new owners. It will take £800m to buy the club, possibly £500m to convert the stadium, £200m for modern training facilities, so £1.5 billion outlay before we even talk about players.
The stadium deal is changing to one similar to man city’s in the next few months . That didn’t put off the Abu Dhabi’s. And it won’t put off new investment it will encourage it .
Are you 100% on that?
Sadiq Khan seemed adamant that it would remain a publicly owned asset only recently.
Any weblink you can attach to say otherwise?