By Sean Whetstone
Vanessa Gold’s decision to sell some of her shares needs to be looked at a little more carefully than thus far following her announcement on the official West Ham site yesterday .
Companies House records published earlier this year show that 592 shares of West Ham holding company (W H Holding Ltd) (17.2%) were held by David Gold personally when he passed away, with another 270 shares (7.9%) held by Gold Family Trusts and Gold Companies.
It is likely that it is this (7.9%) which will go up for sale as they would potentially avoid inheritance tax and not the 10% quoted by Sky Sports News story earlier today.
Back in August, I was contacted by a West Ham fan who works in mergers and acquisitions who tipped me off that the Gold family were looking for advisors to sell a proportion of their shares to investors.
I approached the club at the time and the Gold family in early September but failed to receive any comment from either contact. When Daniel Kretinsky bought into West Ham, there was a ‘call agreement’ inserted, meaning other shareholders would have first refusal on the selling of shares by the others.
At that price, the 7.9% West Ham shareholding would be valued at £49m while still retaining 17.2% of the Hammers for the Gold family shares, making them the third largest shareholder title.
The appointment of Rothschild suggests the board are looking for new investment and money for the club. It suggests the existing shareholders are happy with the status quo and would encourage further investment in the form of a new shareholder to the board.