Does anyone think it might be us?

[Wsussexspur]

Sorry if this isnt correct place to post this. I have just heard about this on 5live and wonder if anyone else thinks that it is us that they are talking about?

2010: Sheikh Ahmed bin Saqr al-Qassimi, member of a ruling family in the United Arab Emirates, has bought a majority stake in an unnamed Premier League club.
Sheikh Ahmed, a member of the ruling family Ras al-Khaimah, will be honorary chairman of the club.
Ras al-Khaimah is one of seven members in the UAE federation which also includes key oil producer Abu Dhabi and regional trade and tourism hub Dubai. (WAM news agency)

I guess the smart money would be Everton as they have been for sale for sometime and will probably be quite cheap and guess would be quite appealing to investors given there form over past 4 or 5 seasons. Also maybe and Liverpool as there financial problems are well known .

However it has been widely reported that Paul Barber and Daniel levy have been to the UAE quite a few times in the last few months trying to get sponsorship for new stadium so maybe something has developed from those talks.

 

[Jody]

Wouldn't we have known about this via the money markets / shareholders?

 

[parklane_n17]

surely it has to be a club on the stockmarket? cant be us as enic would only sell all there shares surely ?

 

[Wsussexspur]

Wouldn't we have known about this via the money markets / shareholders?

i guess so didn't think of that to be honest. Rumours seem to be linking this guy to the Portsmouth deal so looks abit of a none starter as far as we are concerned! Got bit carried away for some reason when I heard about this thinking there must be good chance that it might be us due to the reports Daniel levy & paul barber had been in UAE recently.

 

[C0YS]

I wouldnt think so..

hope not

 

[41john]

Must admit, I just saw that on BBC gossip and was concerned it could have been us. Hence coming on here, I'm sure it isn't and hope it isn't us.

 

[Dibby]

Doubt it's us.

 

[SpursAtHart]

The actual quote from the Emirates News agency, WAM, is that the Sheikh "has acquired 60 per cent of a leading English club.

That can only mean Everton, Spurs, Fulham or West Ham.
Portsmouth finished 14th last year so I don't think they'd be described as a leading club.

Everything points to Spurs.

The club remains unnamed - Sunday is a working day in the UAE and if it's Spurs then the announcement has to be made first through the London Stock Exchange, which doesn't open until Monday morning.

Daniel Levy holds his shares independently from ENIC / Joe Lewis.

The 60% buyer will be the "honorary" chairman. That means someone else will remain in charge to run the Club. I think I recall a while ago that Daniel Levy said he would like to remain involved in Tottenham if it was sold.

 

[camaj]

That can only mean Everton, Spurs, Fulham or West Ham.
Portsmouth finished 14th last year so I don't think they'd be described as a leading club.

Why have you ruled out ManU, Liverpool etc?

I wouldn't pay much attention to the "leading" comment, they're not going to say "a shitty english club that was going cheap", they're going to make it sound as impressive as they can.

 

[SpursAtHart]

Man U - not for sale and no need to sell.
Liverpool - possible but owned 50/50 and I can't see remaining shareholder remaining with a minority holding.
Arse - going to Usmanov or Kroenke

I think you're mistaken about the word "leading" - in this case it could be the identifying adjective that most people are overlooking.

I also forgot to mention that a few weeks ago Gary Mabbutt wrote that for the only time he could recall he saw Joe Lewis at WHL for the game against Man City. I thought that was interesting as it would have been an ideal opportunity to meet the potentially disillusioned Man City owners or one of their "guests"

The more I think about it the more I think it's us

 

[camaj]

Man U - not for sale and no need to sell.

Neither are we. Other than Sunderland and Pompey, I can't think of another club that are openly looking for a buyer.

 

[Rackybear]

Does anyone WANT it to be spurs?

 

[Bronno]

The actual quote from the Emirates News agency, WAM, is that the Sheikh "has acquired 60 per cent of a leading English club.

And though I hesitate to cite wikipedia as a source, it does claim:

"ENIC International holds 82% of the fully diluted share capital of THFC PLC thus Joseph Lewis owns 57.89% of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club PLC and Daniel Levy owns 24.1%"

And he has taken a few knocks in the recession...

 

[robbiesavagehasbreasts]

Man U - not for sale and no need to sell.
Liverpool - possible but owned 50/50 and I can't see remaining shareholder remaining with a minority holding.
Arse - going to Usmanov or Kroenke

I think you're mistaken about the word "leading" - in this case it could be the identifying adjective that most people are overlooking.

I also forgot to mention that a few weeks ago Gary Mabbutt wrote that for the only time he could recall he saw Joe Lewis at WHL for the game against Man City. I thought that was interesting as it would have been an ideal opportunity to meet the potentially disillusioned Man City owners or one of their "guests"

The more I think about it the more I think it's us

Easy with the paranoia.

 

[Wsussexspur]

Neither are we. Other than Sunderland and Pompey, I can't think of another club that are openly looking for a buyer.

Everton are for sale have been for some time.

 

[ricardomcd]

The cluh have spent a lot of time in the UAE over the past month trying to obtain a sponsor for the stadium ? Maybe they got more than they aimed for !

 

[DC_Boy]

I would love it to be us, assuming the correct checks are done on the owners etc.

It would utterly transform our chances for breaking the top 4 if we got a billionaire benefactor

Obviously as I say, it would depend on how much money these people had, their good intentions etc

but as I've been saying for years a billionaire benefactor is the only way we can break the top 4 cartel (that doesn't just mean a 4th every ten years or so, though that would be nice

 

[mil1lion]

I dont think its us. I cant see us selling to foreign owners. But it is a possibility. Especially with the new Stadium plans. If it is us, i think we'll have more luck signing big name players than Man City. Better make it quick though, so we can try and get those Madrid players in.

 

[CAS_GG]

Fairly sure it is Everton

They have 3 share holders


Kenwright 8,754 shares
Earl 7,845 shares
Woods 6,622 shares

Now the later 2 hold 62% and originally bought in on Kenwrights request, now I can't see Kenwright selling his shares but would expect the other 2 to sell if the price was right for them and the deal was right for EFC


Also why would ENIC sell 60% of its shares, it currently owns about 82% so surely if they were going to sell controlling interest they'd sell the lot.

 

[Danners9]

Neither are we. Other than Sunderland and Pompey, I can't think of another club that are openly looking for a buyer.

Sunderland were bought out about a month ago. US-based rich guy Ellis Short now owns 100% of them, for about £200m.


As for the 'leading Premier League club...', they aren't going to say 'shitty mid-table water-treaders' as they have just bought them.