A Middle Eastern consortium is poised to bid £1.5 billion for full
ownership of Britain's Arsenal Football Club in the biggest-ever
takeover of a soccer team, The Telegraph newspaper reported.
The bid is likely to be mounted in the next few weeks, seeking to buy
out the current majority owner, US sports investor Stan Kroenke, the
British newspaper said.
The Middle Eastern investors do not want to reveal their identities yet
but will be backed by funds from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the
newspaper reported late on Saturday without naming its sources.
The consortium would make available transfer funds "to transform the
club into a major force in European and world football", the newspaper
quoted an unnamed source familiar with the plan as saying.
"The bid team regard Arsenal as one of the great clubs of European
football but also one that is no longer punching its weight and is in
danger of falling behind," it said.
The newspaper added that the consortium would pledge to reduce ticket
prices at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London, and would aim to
recreate there some of the atmosphere of Highbury, Arsenal's historic
former stadium.
The takeover would raise questions over the future of Arsenal's manager,
Arsene Wenger, although the consortium values his football knowledge
and want him to remain at the club, The Telegraph said.
An acquisition would add to a string of investments in European soccer
teams by Middle Eastern interests over the last several years.
Manchester City, the current English Premier League champions, were
bought by a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family in 2008, while Kuwait's
al-Hasawi family bought twice European Cup winners Nottingham Forest in
July last year. France's Paris St Germain and Spain's Malaga are owned
by Qatari investors.
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