Takeover thread. What will happen now. ?

[villabromsgrove]

thanks both...he appears to have been there a few days...

The yacht any way.
Super yacht crews have a great life, because most of the time the owner isn't on board!

A crew of 48 evidently.

[villabromsgrove]

from Nov 2013...

Usmanov said ""Everyone who has legal right to buy something can perform this right.
"We have Kroenke, [Aston Villa's Randy] Lerner, many, many people and now many Asian owners. I think everyone is comfortable if the club are successful."

of all the people he could of named...he picked Randy?

source:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25153372

The coincidences are stacking up, but we have to remember they are just coincidences, and there are no actual facts at all to base a connection on.

[clarryblue]

"his" shares apparently are held by an investment company..Red and White Holdings...

[clarryblue]

from Nov 2013...

Usmanov said ""Everyone who has legal right to buy something can perform this right.
"We have Kroenke, [Aston Villa's Randy] Lerner, many, many people and now many Asian owners. I think everyone is comfortable if the club are successful."

of all the people he could of named...he picked Randy?

source:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25153372

The coincidences are stacking up, but we have to remember they are just coincidences, and there are no actual facts at all to base a connection on.

yepp its fun speculating though...!

[villabromsgrove]

from Nov 2013...

Usmanov said ""Everyone who has legal right to buy something can perform this right.
"We have Kroenke, [Aston Villa's Randy] Lerner, many, many people and now many Asian owners. I think everyone is comfortable if the club are successful."

of all the people he could of named...he picked Randy?

source:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25153372

The coincidences are stacking up, but we have to remember they are just coincidences, and there are no actual facts at all to base a connection on.

yepp its fun speculating though...!

Too true, it's been a buzz.

[AstonThriller]

LOL love the speculation guys . And tbh when you really look deep into it it would make sense.

1. Usmanov getting fed up of playing second fiddle at Arsenal

2. An opportunity opens up at the mighty Villa

3. Interested but has to stay very "hush hush" due to still having shares at Arsenal

4. Verbally agrees deal with Randy with the intention of getting rid of shares

5. During due dilligence instructs Randy to hire Fox, a man who he's seen at close quarters at Arsenal

6. usmanov fills Fox in with his intention to purches the Villa

7. Fox, knowing he'd be in a higher position and will be working under someone he knows decides to take the job

8. Randy and usmanov meet up abroad to rubber stamp the deal

Probably too good to be true but hey!!..no harm in dreaming right?   

[villabromsgrove]

LOL love the speculation guys . And tbh when you really look deep into it it would make sense.

1. Usmanov getting fed up of playing second fiddle at Arsenal

2. An opportunity opens up at the mighty Villa

3. Interested but has to stay very "hush hush" due to still having shares at Arsenal

4. Verbally agrees deal with Randy with the intention of getting rid of shares

5. During due dilligence instructs Randy to hire Fox, a man who he's seen at close quarters at Arsenal

6. usmanov fills Fox in with his intention to purches the Villa

7. Fox, knowing he'd be in a higher position and will be working under someone he knows decides to take the job

8. Randy and usmanov meet up abroad to rubber stamp the deal

Probably too good to be true but hey!!..no harm in dreaming right?   

You've summed it up very well …. excellent post …. good to see the realism as well, because we don't have a single fact to base it all on! Still as you say no harm in dreaming. 

[ember]

I think someone will be having a nice round or two of golf tomorrow. As thetrees indicated, it's at anchor and it's at its posted destination, Pevero Bay. It looks like there is a nice beach and a golf course there but probably not a lot else.

[Trotters]

"his" shares apparently are held by an investment company..Red and White Holdings...

Which brings me to the question I've had in my head since reading the speculation on Usmanov; could he buy Villa through a proxy whilst he slowly offloads his Arsenal shares? Essentially he wouldn't own Villa, some shelf company would which Usmanov then buys.

That'd certainly confuse the FA when it comes to finding the real owner for the Fit & Proper test but, as we've seen with Blues, they'll happily pick any muppet the owning company puts forward.

All these billionaires congregating around Sardinia. I can only conclude that Villa will be bought by Ellison, Arison, Usmanov, a couple of other small time billionaires and they will then purchase UEFA and shred all documents relating to FFP.

In two seasons, the Villa club shop will be selling out of the letters M, E, S, I, R, O, N, A, L, and D.

[GodzoneVilla]

LOL love the speculation guys . And tbh when you really look deep into it it would make sense.

1. Usmanov getting fed up of playing second fiddle at Arsenal

2. An opportunity opens up at the mighty Villa

3. Interested but has to stay very "hush hush" due to still having shares at Arsenal

4. Verbally agrees deal with Randy with the intention of getting rid of shares

5. During due dilligence instructs Randy to hire Fox, a man who he's seen at close quarters at Arsenal

6. usmanov fills Fox in with his intention to purches the Villa

7. Fox, knowing he'd be in a higher position and will be working under someone he knows decides to take the job

8. Randy and usmanov meet up abroad to rubber stamp the deal

Probably too good to be true but hey!!..no harm in dreaming right?   

And just to add a little more to the mix about coincidences -

A certan Mr Paul Merson said "October or November" - Where did Merson make his name and probably still has contacts to provide more info at that end than the Villa end --- Arsenal.

[Trotters]

Great to see Fox has officially signed. Although, for the life of me, I still do not understand why he's here if a Randy intends to stay/can't leave.

I keep going back to his comments that he had to sell the Arsenal story for 12 months before the big deals started to happen. Well what fucking story is he going to tell now?

"Once upon a time a long long time ago, there lived a Scotsman with a beard. He was brilliant. And he changed the world. Then came another Scotsman and he was equally brilliant and the colours on the flag ruled over everything and was a great influence. Then came on old man with a well-bought apple and it all went to hell. Then came an American - SHIT YEAH! - and more Scotsmen. Only this time, the Scotsmen were evil doers who wrecked every fucking thing. And now the club can't compete with the Leicester Cities of the world. The end. Can I have £100m over 3 years please?"

[Trotters]

A quote from Usmanov in January last year:

"Arsenal don't seem to need me. I'm a strong man. If someone needs my help, my money, my know-how, I'm always ready."

[mrshnn]

the thought of Usmanov being either owner or investor is exciting.
but if Randy stays and has the enthusiasm he once had then that could also be a good thing.
hopefully exciting times ahead.

[mrshnn]

anybody know Paul Merson , can we get him to clarify what he meant on sky sports , does he have any info?

[Trotters]

I have to confess at having a chuckle when I read the name Usmanov. Can't be him, right? He owns half of Arsenal.

Well.....no.

Less than 30%. Has no seat on the board from what I've read and has been at loggerheads with the majority shareholder (Kroenke). Apparently under Company Law, Kroenke has to make an offer to buy Usmanov's shares once he owned over 30% himself. There's no law to force Usmanov to sell however but should Usmanov decide he wants out, his shares in Arsenal can be sold very quickly.

His quote in my last post was the one that really got my attention and made me think a little harder on this and in doing so has made me realise that this guy seems to be the only one that fits all the pieces of this bizarre, ongoing jigsaw puzzle that we're all trying to piece together.

None of other fantastic names have had much (if anything) to do with sport outside the USA and rarely anything to do with football.

Usmanov makes sense of that.

He also makes sense of Randy's trips to London (although that may have been over compensation for Tom Fox if he was on contract.

Usmanov also owns part of Megafon (Russia's largest mobile phone company) and I do recall reading something about a link between Megafon and Brooklyn New York Holdings (the Lerner families investment company) some time ago...although it may be a tenuous link, at best.

And it's a solid link to Tom Fox himself.

If this deal has been done privately, then it'd explain why sources leaking new from BOAML are reporting that nothing is happening.

There there's THIS ARTICLE from just a couple of weeks ago which states that Usmanov has sold a 10% stake in his own company effectively handed control of that company over to his financier (the same one that helped him stitch up his Arsenal shares) and will pocket Usmanov up to $2 billion and includes the following snippet:

The billionaire plans to put the proceeds into a new fund and continue focusing on the development and growth of his international portfolio of investments, the statement shows. The fund will be focused on investment areas where Usmanov sees value in the future, USM said in a separate e-mail, without elaborating.

As Usmanov is no longer in control of that company, it could buy Villa without Usmanov having a conflict of interest and give him time to offload his arsenal shares.

I've moved from a having a chuckle over this link to properly sitting up and taking a closer look.

If nothing else, it's a bloody lot of fun, this! :)

[mrshnn]

you should change your screen name to Sherlock Holmes....

[Muzz]

Does anyone else believe this could actually happen, or are we just getting a bit carried away, either way it is exciting stuff.

[Trotters]

Getting carried away: 80% chance
Exciting: 110%.

Is it ever any less on TBAR? :)

[Muzz]

I wouldn't have given this usmanov fella a second look, but now Tom Fox is on board I'm not so sure.

There must be a good reason why he's come to the villa, and usmanov could, just could be that link.

Just a thought of mine that's all.

[thetrees]

Just to temper things.
Randy Lerner often goes to London (as do most rich Americans). He sunk £5m into an art gallery that they named after him. I guess that qualifies him for free entry a couple of times a year.

Usmanov, like most of the European/former Soviet Union elite, is often in Olbia, and his yacht seems to share time between there and the South of France.

Last movement that I can see of Usmanov's runaround is from the UK to Olbia on the last day of July. Of course it could easily have been here and there since then, but I don't think that it has been back in the UK.

Randy Lerner could be invited to Olbia to do business, or he could be invited as a guest of one of his fellow rich mates. There are plenty of American private jets that go there in the summer, and there are plenty of American owned superyachts in that region.

But it's fun to speculate.

[Withes Sweatbands]

Once word of warning over Usmanov ... being a Russian billionaire with assets in the UK .. He may run the danger of having assets frozen if this Ukraine thing escalates any more so that would be in the back of my mind .. Don't know which side he supports etc ... Just a thought ...

[TheLeftSide]

Sorry guys don't want to sound a misery but I can't see this - cracking 24 hours or so though , love it.

I've read all the interviews again, and I'm probably being naive but Tom Fox genuinely sounds like he's looking forward to the challenge. The big question has been why? I think it could be that he has done all that hard work at arsenal commercially, they are in a great position and about to start challenging again but as a CCO that really don't matter if you've signed up to every contract going.
However the chance to get your teeth into a CEO role, be more hands on with the club but use your experience and contacts to get a club back to where it should be must be a buzz for a professional person that wants to show what they can do.

I personally don't mind if Lerner stays a while as long as this new approach is adhered to. As long as we are being run properly, and having a good go at winning as many matches as possible instead of just hoping to survive in a cloud of negativity then so be it.
Randy was good at first, if that Randy returns but with the correct people on board growing the club then it could still be good times.

I don't expect Randy to stay long term mind, but in the interim as long as he behaves like this, and backs his team with all they need to fulfil their aspirations then I'll stop worrying and praying for a takeover everyday, and just hope it's a good fit when it does get announced.

[TheLeftSide]

Further to that maybe Tom wanted to leave on a high, he can sit back and watch arsenal prosper and know he had a massive hand in that. Leave while at the top of your game, in his case financially. But like Fergie leaving utd, he knew they wouldn't challenge again without an over haul, so he leaves and looks even more amazing when others fail miserably behind him.

[Malandro]

Usmanov will not buy villa. He's claimed to have supported them (arsenal) since 1990 and in any case has said he would never invest his money like Abramovich or the sheikh.

[Suits]

I honestly can't believe that anybody really thinks we're getting bought by Usmanov. I like TBAR but this kind of thing is why other fan sites and people on social media take the piss out of it.

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