You may be aware – because for one thing I’ve mentioned it several times – that Arsenal.com show the numbers of shares held by Arsenal’s two principle shareholders, Messrs Kroenke and Usmanov (and Moshiri technically, but frankly who’s interested in him?). Arsenal do this to satisfy Premier League rules that state that they:
a) must be aware of who owns any block of shares bigger than 10 per cent
b) must announce to the world anytime a holding of over 10% changes
The Premier League rules on this topic aren’t particularly well written so it’s not completely clear whether clubs are supposed to announce every single share purchase, or just every time a shareholder racks up another whole percentage point of shares. Arsenal normally like to be on the safe side, so they make announcements every couple of weeks whether there has been any change in a major shareholding or not.
(At this point I feel it fair to warn you that the remainder of this post may contain satire.)
This week there was quite an interesting announcement. Well, interesting for me anyway, with my never-ending fascination with how many shares people have got and who is telling the truth about them. Your opinion of the subject may differ.
Here’s a little table summarising the announcements Arsenal have made for the past couple of months regarding shares held by Red & White Holdings. I’ve not bothered with the Kroenke shareholding as that hasn’t changed lately.
As you can see, up to August 24, Red & White were admitting to buying just one share since May. There weren’t many traded on Plus Markets during that time anyway, 15 to be precise, though there may have been others traded off-market. But R&W say they only purchased one of them, and who are we to disbelieve them?
Then last week there were two trades of 20 shares each on Plus Markets, which at the time Red & White said they knew nothing about – they even put around a story that in their belief it was the same shares traded twice in quick succession by ‘a speculator’. But this week the figures on Arsenal.com have been updated to show that since August 24, Red & White have bought 43 shares! So 40 shares traded on Plus; their total goes up by 43 in the same period. Hmm. (Strokes chin.)
Now this may of course be a coincidence. Stranger things have happened – that horse becoming Pope, for one. But it seems more likely to my suspicious mind that the two things are connected. Even with these extra 43 shares, it still officially leaves R&W 127 shares short of the not-so-magical figure of 18,666 for 30 per cent, by the way, but I am starting to wonder if I can trust that figure (the 127 short, not the 18,666), because – c’mere – I think Mr Usmanov may be up to something! Seriously, Arsenal fans, keep an eye on him. Something is definitely going on.
Follow me on Twitter for more exciting announcements the minute they happen – or relatively soon after, depending how busy I am: @AngryOfN5
angryofislington 
Good, may wake Kroenke/Gazidis/Hill Wood up from their slumber.
So let’s say he does get enough shares to take over, what could we realistically expect? It’s not like American sports where he could move the team to St. Petersburg or something. Would he splash the cash? Bankrupt us? What? So why the alarm? For those of us not in the know.
Mr usmanov is d 8th richest man in d world.dere s no way we cn go bankrupt.4 crying out loud ds man iz richer dan abramovic
I hate it when both the T and H keys on a keyboard break, that really is most unfortunate. But you have done well to work around the problem, good show.
I’ve got the world’s top scientists working out what you just said…
Is there any alarm?R&W have set out their vision for the club and done so in a more detailed way than Stan. Does Usmanov want to earn money from AFC? Unlikely, considering the modest (by his standards) potential returns. I doubt we’d see Abramovich style spending, but a one off cash injection, cleared debts and some ”generous” (in comparison to going market rates) sponsorship deals with Usmanov controlled companies would strike me as possible outcomes.
Well, that’s what I’m wondering. The article makes is seem that this sneaky Russian is worming his way in and before we know it, we’ll have a Real Madrid/Tottenham style deal with CSKA Moscow…but from what I’ve seen, Usmanov would really shake things up on the board and hasn’t been a big fan of the transfer policies/”ambition”. Perhaps I’m missing something, but as long as he’s not planning to run afoul of FFP while also bringing in more funds this can’t be bad. Or am I missing something?
Reading the post left me wondering, which horse became a pope?
no horse became pope, blackadder error. although a horse was made a senator by Caligula, but even this is debateable as Suetonius is a little bit sensationalist in his writings. Ermmmm go Arsenal…
Good spot – though I’d dispute that Lord Blackadder made mistakes, as opposed to saying things for comic effect.
But well done. As a reward take a short holiday.
Did you enjoy it?
Cheers for the enlightenment. And the even better banter. Very amusing indeed
why is it that that the board dont wont mr usmanov on the board is it that he would wont the to raise the bar and keep our best players and bring in top player and the board will not make money to put in thier pockets rather then the club if he is prepaired then that will be a good thing so lets get him on the board to see if things change for the good of the club yours winston
Why do people use the term board when they mean Kroenke? Why does he not want Usmanov? Is it because Stan is here to earn a fat return on his majority stake in AFC? For Usmanov the motivation might be glory. Usmanov might want to spend money. Kroenke has proved he doesn’t. The two visions for the club would not be compatible. Of course I’m only guessing.
I did notice,however, that none of Stan’s ”franchises” in the NBA,NFL or NHL have ever won a major trophy under his ownership.
Wewll, his MLS football club won the title !
Red & White Holdings have had 30 % for a little while – the difference is held in a nominee account.
I have said this before (albeit on other forums) – Usminov offered to buy Kronke out, Kronke is holding out for more – he is not interested in taking this club forwards, hence no investment from him. Propoganda has given some (ok maybe most) Arsenal fans a negative impression of Usminov, but from what I know, he loves the club, wants to see it succeed and compete and wants to invest, he wants Wenger at the helm to drive his vision forwards with no hinderance.
Do you have any facts? I like facts. What is the name of the nominee account? When exactly are you saying R&W got to 30%? Why are they flouting stock market rules and not announcing it?
I assume you don’t represent R&W, if you did you would know how to spell Mr Usmanov’s surname. What gives you the impression most Arsenal fans have a negative view of Usmanov? I’m fairly confident a majority would prefer the club in Usmanov’s hands, rather than Kroenke’s. I’m sure R&W are aware of this.
It just doesn’t make sense to claim that ”things would happen quickly” if more fans got behind AU. R&W surely know that if they somehow managed to buy out the Yank, and then delivered on their promises, mass support from the fans would be guaranteed.
I think you may be wrong about a majority of fans preferring AU to SK. There is a slow swing to AU the longer the trophy drought goes on, but I don’t think he has a majority yet, not in the UK anyway.
Phil, all will be revealed in due course, and taken it from me, he has the 30%. If more fans were to get behind Usmanov, then you would be surprised how quickly things would change at Arsenal. As it stands, the club use ‘pariah Dein’ and the ‘unwelcome’ Usmanov to put the fear in to the fans, while at the same time they rinse the club’s profits for their own personal endeavours. The more PHW talks, the more he angers the fans, while at the same time Wonke Kronke dithers, he shows that he isnt really interested in the club. That again is evident on how many games he attended last season, which I believe it was only 1, and that was against Man City.
What exactly is it that you don’t understand about Phil’s request for some facts to back up your statements?
Yes, yes, we all know about Kroenke’s poor attendance record, that IS a verifiable fact.
But you come on here using a pseudonym and making all kinds of non-verifiable claims about share ownership, and expect me to believe you just because “all will become clear”? I thought this kind of thing stopped when the transfer window closed. Come on, give me a fact about Usmanov’s shareholding. Any fact that you can back up.
Phil, something you yourself pointed out. The club reports AU’s holding – of which only 10k+ are held directly by R&W, the rest by nominees. Therefore AU declares ALL of his holding to the club and “gooner boy” is just a troll.
Phil – what do you want me to do, post a photograph of Usmanov holding a piece with the other .2%? Its a nominee account, and as such no specific name has to be given. I really dont give a stuff if you believe me or not – just wait and see.
Well you could give me the name of the nominee account as it appears on the share register, I don’t think that’s unreasonable.
And what would be most interesting would be the date you’re saying AU went over 30%, then when it all comes out you’ll be proven right. If you get it right I’ll be happy to accept it wasn’t just a lucky guess.
AU went over 30% a a few months back. No lucky guess, things keep going the way they are with the dissatisfaction of the fans and the swing in fans attitude towards Usmanov, things will become much more evident in the next 9-12 months.
Enough said – sit back and watch it unfold
“A few months back”? It’s all a bit vague, isn’t it. Which month?
Phil, i am not going to give you very specific information, so you can try and shoot it down – there are some people who know more than you do. There is also a lot of misinformation eminating from the club, which we as fans should worry more about.
I can’t shoot it down if it’s a verifiable fact, can I?
Just tell me either the names of the nominee accounts as they appear on the share register, or the month R&W went over 30%. If you know anything at all, that should hardly be a stretch.
I’ll be a year older in 12 months that’s the only thing I know’ll be evident in that time frame.
Do you think there’s any connection with Jabba holding an IPO of MegaFon and Arsenal?,of course there is, but does this give him the liquidity to make a big push for AFC?
AU made US$1 billion in cash a few months ago courtesy of his stake in Facebook. I don’t think liquidity is a big issue. Presumably ”Colorado Gooner” Stan would prefer those dollars to the sterling Megafon will raise in London.
Mr Usmanov is a British citizen and is based in the UK. That might be all there is to him moving business interests over here.
The amusing thing is that Megafon , according to the R&W letter,was the Usmanov company Gazidis allegedly cold-called for talks about sponsorship, That part of the letter must have been truly humiliating for the board.
It would be beautiful irony if the cash raised through this flotation went towards buying Colorado Gooner a one way ticket home to Walmart building sites and crap American sports franchises.