Arsenal supporters and former players have been left furious at the news of an offer made by Stan Kroenke on Tuesday to take complete control of the club.
The American billionaire, who already owns 67 per cent of the Premier League side through Kroenke Sports Enterprise (KSE) UK, wants to buy the remainder of the shares after securing the backing of minority owner Alisher Usmanov.
Kroenke said in a statement to the London stock exchange that he believed the club would benefit from being taken private. His deal values Arsenal at £1.8billion.
Stan Kroenke has made a £550million offer to take complete control of Arsenal.
*.He will be buying out fellow mogul Alisher Usmanov, who will receive £550m for his 30 per cent stake based on the share price of £29,419.64.
*.KSE, the corporation owned by Kroenke, currently holds 41,743 shares in Arsenal equating to 67.09 per cent control.
*.Usmanov made a £1bn offer to buy out Kroenke in May last year but that was rejected.
*.Deutsche Bank has agreed to provide Kroenke with a bridging loan of £557m to complete the buy-out.
*.In order to secure the loan, Kroenke paid the bank a fee of £5.57m last week.
Not everyone associated with the club shares the same optimism as Kroenke though. The Arsenal Supporters Trust described it as a 'dreadful day' in a statement.
It read: 'Stan Kroenke taking the club private will see the end of supporters owning shares in Arsenal and their role upholding custodianship values.
'The AST is also extremely concerned to note that this purchase is being funded by a loan. The most dreadful part of this announcement is the news that Kroenke plans to forcibly purchase the shares held by Arsenal fans.
'Many of these fans are AST members and hold their shares not for value but as custodians who care for the future of the club. Kroenke's actions will neuter their voice and involvement.
'It is in effect legalised theft to remove shareholder scrutiny on how Arsenal is managed. The AST is wholly against this takeover. Arsenal remains too important to be owned by any one person.'
Club legend Ian Wright also slammed the decision and admitted he is worried that the optimism around the club following the arrival of Unai Emery could suffer as a result.
He tweeted: 'Incredibly sad day for so many of our fan shareholders that that no longer own a part of this club. Imagine if this wasn't only about money but about the club, the community & the fans - all this new enthusiasm we are witnessing with Unai wouldn't feel like such a waste.'
That was also the general feeling among other Gunners fans on social media.
@_AdamKeys posted: 'If Stan Kroenke buys 100% of Arsenal, he can take the company completely private. When that happens, he won't have to public ally declare the club's finances. He could effectively run it like Newcastle and Sunderland - "where has all the money gone?!".'
Highbury Harold shared that opinion and blamed his fellow supporters for allowing the American to get into this positions. 'Shame on those who refused to protest against Kroenke,' he said.
'Shame on those who actually defended his actions. And shame on ALL of those who sold shares to him; you know how you are, and you're complicit in all of this.'
@GrahamForsyth added: 'I said all along that Wenger wasn't the biggest problem at Arsenal-it was the board. Fans should have focused on getting rid of Kronke first. Believe Emery has done a lot of good so far, but we won't run as a football club w/ SK in control.'
The move comes at a crucial time for the club after Arsene Wenger stepped down as manager after 22 years to be replaced by Unai Emery.
Arsenal begin their Premier League campaign against defending champions Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium this Sunday.
The Premier League transfer window closes on Thursday at 5pm and signings cannot be made after that point.
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