Forum | General Discussion

West Ham’s ownership conundrum takes another twist! Daniel Kretinsky this morning has announced that he has sold 2.2% of his stake to fellow Czech billionaire Jakub Havrlant, as he is set to buy the Gold family’s stake in full without surpassing the 50% rule, meaning he wouldn’t trigger the shareholders’ agreement clause, which was formed in 2021 and would’ve forced him to buy Sullivan’s 38.8% stake at an inflated price.

In doing this, Kretinsky has now gambled that he will be able to buy all of Gold’s family holdings without David Sullivan’s intervention, as he’s under the assumption that the Independent Football Regulator will step in and reject any increase Sullivan attempts to make.

Here we go, here’s where the difficulty starts!

Kretinsky’s sale of 2.2% will have to be offered to the existing shareholders due to pre-emptive rights, so David Sullivan, Vanessa Gold, Tripp Smith, Terry Brown and Daniel Harris would have first refusal in round one of the process. If no existing shareholder buys the 2.2% in 30 days of round one, there’s no round two, and that’s where Harvlant would be free to buy the 2.2% in question.

For the other chess game, which has Gold’s stake up for grabs - In a world where Daniel Kretinsky bought his maximum entitled amount (9%) and is the only shareholder to do this in round one, he would then technically be the only person available to purchase any stake in round two, which would offer the remaining stake (16.1%) up for grabs, meaning he would then take his total overall shareholding to 49.9%

The 49.9% means that he doesn’t trigger the inflated clause to buy David Sullivan’s shares but would still have majority control as he and his Czech friend would own 50.1% of West Ham together.

In this scenario, which is the most likely to happen, it would completely shut Amanda Staveley out from her Gold shares offer.

Buying David Sullivan’s shares is a dead end for her, as it wouldn’t be possible to gain a majority shareholding through Sullivan, and if she were to offer to buy Sullivan’s shares, which could theoretically launch the foundation of a possible hostile takeover for the club entierly, the offer she puts to Sullivan would allow Kretinsky to have matching rights, and the offer she would provide Sullivan would almost certainly be a lot less than the clause he would trigger by owning 50% of the club.

Kretinsky is officially playing Staveley at her own game, and with this Czech plan, it’s almost inevitable that Amanda Staveley will NOT be investing in West Ham.

West Ham United have been seeking a replacement for Crysencio Summerville, who recently departed to Al-Hilal for an astonishing £55,000,000. Despite the funds amassed, the Hammers are taking their time to decide which left-sided winger they would like to pursue and aren’t letting themselves be dragged in and pay a fortune.

Two backup winger targets the Hammers have laid eyes on are Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson and Sunderland’s Simon Adingra. These wingers will be the alternatives to our primary and controversial target, Manor Solomon from Tottenham Hotspur.

After the rumours were released about West Ham’s interest in Manor Solomon, outrage sparked amongst East End fans due to the winger’s Israeli heritage and comments he had previously made in the past.

With the outrage amongst fans, West Ham have had to reevaluate whether to pursue the Spurs winger and currently aren’t sure, as they’re confident in his playing ability but are worried West Ham fans won’t be in full support of the signing.

This isn’t the first time this has happened! West Ham fans’ criticism of former target Elye Wahi and his disappointing actions off the pitch sparked outrage, and subsequently the Hammers moved on elsewhere.

West Ham are comfortable spending upwards of £25m for an individual, but they have to find their perfect wingman!

The club will persist with Manor Solomon, but if they change their minds, it will be Adingra and Nelson where our attention lies next.

West Ham United have confirmed that Amanda Staveley has provisionally purchased Vanessa Gold's 25.1% stake.

The standard procedure will now be followed however, a few difficulties could potentially arise. At the moment, all seems amicable on the surface between Kretinsky & Amanda, but difficulties could arise in the following 60 days. Should everything be smooth sailing, this would be a significant step to remove David Sullivan, as Amanda has her eyes on a full takeover, but a bumpy road could still pop up should Daniel Kretinsky follow through with his initial idea to buy Vanessa Gold's stake.

Time will tell! Here's the following statement from West Ham:

West Ham United can confirm it is aware of the announcement from Joint-Chair Vanessa Gold that she has reached a provisional agreement to sell her shares to a consortium of PCP Capital Partners, led by Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, in partnership with Ashland Forest Capital Partners.

The proposed transaction will now be subject to a pre-emption rights process. This provides all existing shareholders with the opportunity to acquire their proportional percentage of shares in round one, and any remaining shares in round two. This process will take approximately two months and, until it is completed, nothing will change regarding the ownership structure of the Club.

West Ham United would like to assure supporters that the day-to-day running of the football club is in no way affected by this situation. Preparations for the new season continue to take shape with diligence and focus, and we thank all fans for their continued loyal backing at this time.

The Club will be making no further comment while the pre-emption process runs its course.