Ownership and Finances
For more details on this topic, see Ownership of Arsenal F.C..Arsenal's parent company, Arsenal Holdings plc, operates as a non-quoted public limited company, whose ownership is considerably different from that of other football clubs. Only 62,217 shares in Arsenal have been issued, and they are not traded on a public exchange such as the FTSE or AIM; instead, they are traded relatively infrequently on PLUS (AFC), a specialist market. At 31 August 2010, a single share in Arsenal had a mid price of £10,250, which set the club's market capitalisation value at approximately £637.74m. The club made a pre-tax operating profit (excluding player transfers) of £62.7m in the year ending 31 May 2009, from a turnover of £313.3m.
The largest shareholder on the Arsenal board is American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, who launched a bid for the club in 2007, and in November 2009 increased his holding to 18,594 shares (29.9%).
A rival bid to Kroenke's came from Red & White Securities, which is co-owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and London-based financier Farhad Moshiri. Red & White launched its bid in August 2007, buying the stake held by former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, and as at February 2009 owned 15,555 shares (25.0%) in the club. This led to press speculation of a bidding war between Kroenke and Usmanov. However, Kroenke agreed not to purchase more than 29.9% of the club until at least September 2009, while the rest of the board have first option on each other's shares until October 2012.
In April 2011, Stan Kroenke was rumoured to be in "advanced talks" with Arsenal over a possible takeover.
As of October 2011, Kroenke owns 41,574 shares (66.82%) and Red & White Securities own 18,261 shares (29.35%). Under company law Kroenke, as majority shareholder, is obliged to make an offer for the remaining shares in the club.
Read more about this topic: Arsenal F.C.
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