Arsenal interest F1's Ecclestone

[Karl]

Arsenal interest F1's Ecclestone

Ecclestone's personal fortune is valued at £2.2 billion


Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone is interested in buying Arsenal.


Arsenal are valued at £432m, but five directors who own 45% of the club have signed an agreement to resist any takeover that will run until April.

"The directors don't want to sell and have signed a lockout agreement for a year, so we will have to wait and see what happens then," he told The Times. "A lot can change in that time. I am still very interested. If I could buy Arsenal I would, but I'd want control."

Ecclestone, whose personal fortune is valued at £2.2bn, is a friend of former Gunners vice-chairman David Dein, who walked out of the club last season after a boardroom row over a possible takeover. American sports magnate Stan Kroenke has also been linked with a possible takeover, having spent £65m for 12.2% stake in the club in the last year.

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Kroenke eager for Arsenal talks


Arsenal stakeholder Stan Kroenke wants to meet the rest of the board following talks with chairman Peter Hill-Wood and managing director Keith Edelman.

The American billionaire owns 12% of the club and reports suggested he was considering a full takeover bid. But his spokesman Paul Andrews refused to say whether further investment in the Gunners was pending.
"He's very bullish about it. He now looks forward to meeting the other board members," said Andrews.

"He has been meeting with the people from Arsenal for the past year-and-a half and he is very fond of the way they run their business operation."

Asked whether Kroenke had a healthy relationship with Hill-Wood, who was initially hostile towards the United States businessman's financial interest in the club, Andrews replied: "Absolutely."
But he would not comment on the tycoon's plans for the Premier League club.

"We never comment on any future, possible investments of any kind. Each investment is evaluated based on its merit and it will be assessed on an ongoing basis."

Kroenke Sports Enterprises owns the Denver Nuggets basketball franchise, the Colorado Avalanche ice hockey team and Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids. Arsenal and the Rapids have developed a commercial and marketing partnership in recent months. If Kroenke raises his Arsenal stake to 30%, he is obliged by takeover rules to launch a formal bid for the Gunners.