Amanda Staveley’s consortium has agreed a deal to buy a 25.1 per cent share in West Ham United, which will throw the future ownership of the Championship club into doubt. Through her firm, PCP Capital Partners, Staveley offered a higher sum to purchase the full stake from the family of the late David Gold. Last month the Gold family agreed to sell 16 per cent of their stake to Daniel Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire who owns 27 per cent of the club but is now considering “all options” following the setback. However, Staveley’s deal was more attractive to Gold’s family because they can dispose of the full holding and it valued the club at a higher sum than Kretinsky’s offer. Staveley, who led the takeover of Newcastle United for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is understood to be backed by investors mainly from the United States and the Far East. They had considered a bid for Tottenham Hotspur but could now try to take full control of West Ham. The proposed deal would have made the Royal Mail owner the biggest shareholder and given him control of the club. Kretinsky and Vanessa Gold, who both became co-chairmen, said in a statement at the time that they had hoped the deal would be completed soon. Staveley’s intervention has put David Sullivan firmly back as the kingmaker of the club’s future ownership. He resigned as West Ham co-chairman in June after allegations of sexual abuse were uncovered by a Times and BBC Panorama investigation. The 77-year-old British businessman was accused of exploitative and predatory behaviour when he was making his fortune in the adult industry, with the claims dating back to the 1980s. Sullivan denies the allegations and has labelled them “factually incorrect and entirely false”. Staveley or Kretinsky would need to buy his 38.8 per cent share to take majority control of the club. West Ham’s future shareholder structure is also complicated by pre-emption rights which dictate that existing investors have first refusal on any shares which change hands at an agreed price. For example, Kretinsky would be entitled to buy 6.78 per cent of the Gold stake at the price agreed with Staveley. “The agreement we had reached with the Gold family in June provided stability for the club at a crucial time,” a spokesman for Kretinsky told the Sunday Times. “This does the opposite. We will always act in the best interests of West Ham United and are reviewing all of our options, including exercising our pre-emption rights in full.”. Kretinsky will be disappointed because he had been putting building blocks in place to help the club’s bid to return to the Premier League, including a director of recruitment and other senior executives. The latest development seems likely to make stability more difficult in the short term. The east London club will begin life in the second tier by hosting Portsmouth in the Carabao Cup first round on Saturday, August 8, a game for which they have sold more than 50,000 tickets. They then start their Championship season away to Burnley eight days later.   submitted by   /u/sonofaBilic [link]   [comments]