‘Silent’ Stan Kroenke has made a surprise move to buy the St. Louis Rams American football team when he had been expected to sell his stake. He currently owns 40 per cent of the Rams and has turned down an offer to sell that share from auto-parts millionaire Shahid Khan. Kroenke will instead buy the remainder from Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodroquez, who inherited control when their mother, Georgia Frontiere, died in January 2008. Kroenke has a right to buy the remaining share under the terms of a partnership agreement.
‘Silent’ Stan Kroenke has made a surprise move to buy the St. Louis Rams American football team when he had been expected to sell his stake. He currently owns 40 per cent of the Rams and has turned down an offer to sell that share from auto-parts millionaire Shahid Khan. Kroenke will instead buy the remainder from Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodroquez, who inherited control when their mother, Georgia Frontiere, died in January 2008. Kroenke has a right to buy the remaining share under the terms of a partnership agreement.
Forbes magazine values the Rams at £607m, and although the same source estimates Kroenke’s net worth at around £1.9bn, it is doubtful that he has enough working capital to a launch a bid for both the Rams and Arsenal. If he went over the 30 per cent trigger point in his shareholding, he would have to make an offer no lower than the highest price paid for shares in the club in the previous 12 months. For Kroenke, this figure will drop to £8,500 a share on a 1 May, saving him an estimated £87m on a potential takeover.
Only 11.72 per cent of shares at the club are now held by minor shareholders and that figure includes the Supporters’ Trust who would not sell. Very few shares have been publicly available and consequently Kroenke’s purchases have often been at least in part faciliated by chairman Peter Hill-Wood and non-executive director Danny Fiszman, who have both sold a portion of their own stake to the American.
Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith will get the best value if she sells all her shares in one block but her stake does not come with a seat on the board meaning that investors are unlikely to pay a premium on the stake if they have no role in decision-making. She is thought to want £10,000 a share, £1,500 more than the going rate.
Blackstone has put John ‘Studs’ Studzinski in charge of selling the shares. He has extensive links in the Far East, but there may also be interest from the Middle East where strong commercial ties are already in place with sponsors Arab airline Emirates.
The club continues to insist that they were prefer a multi-ownership model with an emphasis on being self-sustainable. That would probably also be the preference of most fans and it could well be the outcome achieved.