Hill-Wood reiterates Gunners stance
The battle for control of Arsenal continues
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Monday, 10, Sep 2007 10:41
Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has insisted that he and his fellow board members will resist any possible takeover bid from Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
Hill-Wood claimed that any proposal made by Usmanov, who recently acquired a 14.58 per cent stake in the Emirates outfit after purchasing shares from former vice-chairman David Dein, would be dismissed out of hand.
"The major shareholders have no intention of selling and wouldn't welcome an offer," he told the BBC.
The oil tycoon's investment in the club has been seen as possibly paving the way for Dein's return to a position of power at Arsenal after he left in acrimonious circumstances in April.
Dein's championing of a takeover proposal from American shareholder Stan Kroenke brought him into public conflict with Hill-Wood and the chairman is in no mood to welcome him back into the fold.
"I see no major point in that [listening to Dein's proposals], I've had 25 years of listening to him," he said.
However Hill-Wood admitted that a shift in the balance of boardroom power could be on its way once the major shareholders' commitment to maintain their current level of investment until April 2008 expires.
"We will have a dialogue with any principal or major shareholder. If they've got some sensible proposals we'll listen to them," he said.
Ironically that statement may well open the way for Kroenke, Dein's original bargaining partner, to significantly increase his current 12 per cent stake in the club.