The Times newspaper has made a major new West Ham takeover claim after the death of co-owner David Gold.
West Ham announced the sad passing of Gold on Wednesday. The Hammers co-owner passed away at the age of 86 surrounded by his family.
Tributes have been paid to Gold across football including West Ham’s bitter rivals Millwall.
Gold’s death has also raised the inevitable question over what will happen to his remaining stake in West Ham.
November marked the one-year anniversary since Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky became West Ham’s second biggest stakeholder behind David Sullivan.
The “Czech Sphinx” paid a reported £150m for 27 per cent of West Ham. Talk around Kretinsky’s stance over an eventual full West Ham takeover has been flip-flapping on an almost weekly basis since.
Will he or won’t he is the big question in the background at West Ham right now when it comes to Kretinsky and the answer seems to change like the wind.
Now The Times has made a major new West Ham takeover claim after the death of co-owner Gold.
Martyn Ziegler, The Times’ chief sports reporter, claims Gold’s death will ‘speed up’ Kretinsky’s full takeover of West Ham.
Ziegler’s report claims the passing of the Hammers co-chairman will hasten Kretinsky’s full takeover once the windfall tax clause expires in March.
“The death of West Ham United’s co-owner David Gold is expected to hasten a full takeover of the club by fellow shareholder Daniel Kretinsky, a billionaire from the Czech Republic, once a windfall tax clause expires in March…” The Times reports.
“Sullivan and Gold bought 86 per cent of West Ham for a total of £86 million, so the families stand to make a large profit, though they have also loaned money to the club and taken on extra debt.
“Should the club be sold to Kretinsky for about £600 million — based on the cost of his initial stake — then the Gold family and Sullivan stand to make a £300 million return on their investments.”
It has been claimed previously that Kretinsky is not interested in a full takeover of West Ham.
That certainly tallies with his approach to business elsewhere with the Czech Sphinx preferring instead to invest in part shares of businesses with making money the key objective – as it is for any investor.
Football is of course a completely different animal with fans expecting owners to spend money instead.
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