The course of the future ownership of Arsenal took
an unexpected turn yesterday when it emerged that Lady Nina
Bracewell-Smith, the club's fourth largest shareholder, was seeking a
buyer for her stake.
Bracewell-Smith, who was ousted from the board
two years ago, owns close to 16 per cent, and were either of the two
leading shareholders, the American Stan Kroenke or Alisher Usmanov, the
Uzbek billionaire, to buy her out it would spark a takeover of the club
as the purchaser would move past the all-important 30 per cent
threshold. Bracewell-Smith is believed to have appointed the US
investment bank Blackstone to find a buyer, although the bank refused to
make any comment last night.
Bracewell-Smith is one of four key figures in
Arsenal's future, along with Kroenke, Usmanov and, most importantly,
Danny Fiszman, the driving force in the move to the Emirates stadium and
in many ways now the kingmaker. Fiszman has a 16.1 per cent share and
is closely allied to Kroenke.
The move by
Bracewell-Smith indicates that neither Kroenke nor Usmanov are looking
to mount an immediate takeover – certainly not before the end of the
season – otherwise they would have snapped up her share long before it
headed for the open market. Whether Bracewell-Smith can find an investor
willing to pay close to £90m but with no accompanying place on the
board, or any real prospect of challenging the two leading shareholders,
remains to be seen.
Kroenke is regarded as a
stable long-term investor by the club – he has strong support on the
board and qualified backing from the Arsenal Supporters' Trust. He has
been buying Arsenal shares over a three-year period and two weeks ago
moved to within 10 shares of the 30 per cent mark. He will almost
certainly not attempt to purchase any more until after 1 May, when the
price he will have to offer per share will drop by £2,000, a potential
saving of around £87m on what he would be obliged to spend to take over
the club.
News of Bracewell-Smith's move broke
on the same day Kroenke was due to make a decision on whether to sell
his share of the St Louis Rams, a 40 per cent stake for which he had
been offered £190m. Yesterday marked the end of the 60-day window he had
to reach a decision. As of last night there was no indication as to
whether he had accepted the deal. Reports in the US have cast doubt on
his willingness to relinquish his share in the NFL outfit.
There is a lockdown agreement in force at the Emirates
until 2012, meaning any board member looking to sell shares must give
first refusal to other board members. Bracewell-Smith was a
non-executive director from 2005, when her husband Charles, the fourth
baronet of Keighley, transferred his shares to her. She left the board
in 2008, two months after Kroenke joined, ending the Bracewell-Smith
family's 70-year association with the club.