Prospective West Ham United investor Amanda Staveley was at London Stadium on Tuesday to see the
4-2 Championship win
over Wolves.
Staveley attended at the invitation of co-chair Vanessa Gold, as the deadline nears for existing directors to submit offers for Gold’s 25.1% stake in the club.
In July, it was confirmed Gold had reached an agreement
to sell her full holding to Staveley, valuing West Ham at £600m. Gold had previously agreed a separate deal with fellow co-chair Daniel Kretinsky to sell part of the shares.
Under West Ham’s pre-emption rights structure, any arrangement with an external buyer must first be offered to major existing shareholders pro rata on identical terms.
Shareholders get first refusal, then a further opportunity to purchase any remaining shares before an additional deadline.
The initial 30-day window to accept the offer expires this week, and the outcome is still unclear.
West Ham’s largest shareholder is David Sullivan with 38.8%. He stepped down as co-chair in June and has said he will contest
allegations made against him in a joint BBC Panorama and Times investigation.
Kretinsky owns 27%, but said last month he is
selling just over 2% of his holding to Czech businessman Jakub Havrlant.
That move could be decisive, as it would let him acquire all of Gold’s shares without crossing the 50% threshold, which would otherwise trigger a clause requiring a mandatory offer for the rest of the club on unfavourable terms.
Sources familiar with the situation have told BBC Sport that Sullivan is unlikely to increase his stake while the Football Regulator assesses his suitability as a shareholder.
It also remains uncertain whether Kretinsky’s share sale could face a legal challenge, given it appears to allow him to avoid a full takeover bid.