Usmanov waits on the touchline as Arsenal board mulls over rights issue
THE BOARD of Arsenal football club was yesterday locked in talks over major stakeholder Alisher Usmanov’s proposal that the club should launch a £75m-£150m rights issue, to pay off some of its £320m debt and fund player transfers.
Despite having significant influence through his 25 per cent stake in the company, the Uzbeki billionaire was not present as he has not been given a seat on the board.
The proposal poses a challenge to major stakeholders who do have board representation – 28 per cent shareholder Stan Kroenke and 16 per cent shareholder Danny Fiszman – to put their money where their mouth is and invest more into the club.
Usmanov, who feels that he is shut out of club strategy, is battling to re-assert his power after Kroenke recently overtook him as the club’s largest stakeholder.
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis has said that the club is “open minded” on a rights issue, but directors are reluctant to depart from its aim of keeping its finances in manageable order.
A dismissal of the proposal is unlikely to deter Usmanov, whose options to secure more control of the club include appealing to smaller shareholders or approaching old-Arsenal family shareholder Lady Bracewell-Smith, who owns 15 per cent and is understood to be considering selling some or all of her stake.