A consortium of investors from Qatar and the UAE are preparing to bid for English Premier League football club Arsenal. The bid is reported to amount to US$2.25 billion and if it pushes through, would be the record purchase for a football club in history.
The previous record for a purchase was made by the Glazer family for Manchester United amounting to US$1.2 billion. With this sale, there would be a significant increase in Arab influence in European football, with Manchester City owned by Abu Dhabi and Paris St. Germain by the Qatari royal family.
The huge offer to be made more than doubles the valuation for the club and hopes to tempt owner Stan Kroenke to sell the club. In specifics, the cash offer to investors would be about US$30,000 per share and this would make Kroenke's stake of 66.83% worth about US$1.25 billion. The deal could also wipe out the club's accumulated debt of US$376 million.
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