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The US consortium proposing the acquisition of West Ham was rejected a second time after pursuing its first approach with a £ 400 million offer late last month.
Prospective buyers, who are involved in American sports, are understood to have not been discouraged after failing with an initial offering of £ 350 million in early August. The group remains interested in buying West Ham, which is owned by David Gold and David Sullivan, and they have made their intentions clear by returning with a higher offer.
His second offer wasn’t enough to entice West Ham to make a sale. Although Sullivan and Gold have seen their position drop with supporters since moving to London Stadium in 2016, it will take a much higher price to convince them to change their stance.
Bidders have entered a reflection period and plan to monitor developments before bidding again next month. A source told the Guardian that the group has drawn up a seven-year business plan to improve the club’s finances. West Ham, which pays £ 2.5 million a year to rent its land, suffered a pre-tax loss of £ 28.8 million in the last financial year and has struggled due to Covid-19.
The consortium, which is exploring the possibility of buying London Stadium, acknowledges that completing an acquisition will be difficult. One obvious complication is that the deal by which West Ham moved to London Stadium includes a deal under which Sullivan and Gold will have to pay a 20% penalty to the taxpayer if the club sells for more than £ 300 million before March 2023. They accept that Sullivan and Gold, who bought the club in 2010, will want a return on their investment.
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But bidders believe Gold, Sullivan and Karren Brady, the club’s vice president, could be under increased pressure if West Ham’s results are poor over the next month. The trio faced protests against the board of supporters earlier this year and was heavily criticized following the recent sale of Grady Diangana to West Bromwich Albion.
West Ham’s board promised they would challenge at the top of the Premier League after leaving Upton Park. They haven’t made any signings since narrowly avoiding relegation last season and face a disappointing streak of Premier League matches after losing 2-0 to Newcastle in their opener. His next six games are against Arsenal, Wolves, Leicester, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool.
London Stadium sources have questioned the strength of the group’s interest, noting that Premier League clubs receive inquiries on a regular basis. Club sources have also said that the group has not provided evidence of funding.
Bidders insist their interest is genuine. The value of its first offer was based on the proposed acquisition of Newcastle for £ 300 million by a Saudi-led consortium, plus an additional £ 50 million due to West Ham’s London location. The offer was rejected by Sullivan, which owns a 51.5% majority stake.
Sullivan made it clear that he was not interested in a sale and raised the possibility of bidders investing in a minority stake, but the consortium will consider a partial sale only in exchange for a majority stake.
