West Ham news: Stefan Borson drops ‘£1bn’ takeover claim
West Ham are unlikely to be worth a £1billion valuation to any potential new investors if only a minority stake is on offer.
That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider the east London club are an appealing proposition to interested parties due to their location.
Former Everton CEO Keith Wyness told Football Insider West Ham are “available” to bidders and he expects takeover movement in the new year.
The club is presently owned by four major investors – Daniel Kretinsky, David Sullivan, the Gold Family and Albert ‘Tripp’ Smith.
The current ownership has faced criticism from fans since their takeover, but those concerns have been quelled by big investment in the playing squad in recent years.
West Ham owners could face issues selling minority stake
Borson admitted a minority stake is likely to be less interesting to any potential new investors than a full takeover at the London Stadium.
“It’s hard to value West Ham,” Borson told Football Insider.
“It’s hard to see how it would be worth more than the likes of Newcastle.
“Newcastle was bought for about £350million. What’s it worth today? Maybe £1billion or just under.
“A lot of it is about the value of two things for West Ham, the London Stadium and the London base that they have.
“That has potential value for potential buyers from all over the world. They like the prospect of buying a London club and what that means.
“The issue that West Ham have in terms of trying to sell is first of all that loads of teams are for sale and, secondly, I think only a minority stake is on offer.
“A minority stake is clearly less interesting than a majority stake because you just don’t have the level of control of the direction of travel and strategic decisions that are made.
“I think it would be hard to sell at anywhere near a £1billion valuation for a minority stake. But if it had the control there, then you might be able to justify being worth £1billion.”
In other news, Jose Mourinho “very interested” in being next West Ham manager – insider.
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