According to the British media, the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský is close to buying 27 percent of shares in the English team from the Premiere League West Ham United FC. The information was reported by the British website Daily Mail. According to the reports the entire purchase should cost 700 million pounds, approximately 21.2 billion crowns. The Daily Mail also recalls that Křetínský in the islands recently increased his stake in the British postal company Royal Mail to 19.02 percent.
From 2010 to the present, the English West Ham is owned by a pair of entrepreneurs David Sullivan and David Gold, who hold 51.1 and 35.1 percent of the shares. Vice-Chairman Karren Brady also plays a key role in the running of the club.
Web Sky News reported that a deal could be done on the first weekend in November, when West Ham in the Premier League encounter at Liverpool. The English server also claims that the draft agreement should include an option to take over the club completely in the future.
“It has been speculated on the market for a long time that Křetínský could buy a minority share in one of the important, probably British clubs. Already in 2017, rumors spread in some domestic media that he could also buy the club of the British Premier League, FC Southampton, “said Lukáš Kovanda, Chief Economist of Trinity Bank.
By acquiring a stake in West Ham, Křetínský would soon become another foreigner to invest in an English football club. The last of these was the Saudi investment fund this month , which is in fact managed by the Crown Prince and ruler of Saudi Arabia, Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
Daniel Křetínský has owned the Prague Sparta with the J&T Group since 2004 and made it the most financially stable football club in the country. According to the latest ranking of Forbes magazine, the 43-year-old businessman is the fourth richest Czech with an estimated asset value of 87.8 billion crowns.