By Bill Wilson
Business reporter, BBC News
BBC.co.uk
A takeover of football club West Ham United by Icelandic bank Straumur looks
unlikely at present, the BBC has learned from industry insiders. Reports
have indicated that Straumur is poised to assume ownership of the club from
its owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson. But Straumur is restructuring and at an
effective business standstill. The BBC also understands that any potential
takeover by the bank in the future is only one of a number of options that
West Ham is considering.
'One option'
One football industry expert with knowledge of the situation said a Straumur
takeover was by no means certain to happen, adding that: "It is only one of
the options potentially on [the club's]agenda." It was reported at the
weekend that two potential bidders, from the Middle East and Far East, had
expressed an interest in buying the club. Icelandic bank Straumur provided
much of the money in loans for Mr Gudmundsson's £85m purchase of the club in
November 2006. Since then Mr Gudmundsson's holding company Hansa - in effect
West Ham's United's holding company - has hit financial difficulties and
gone into administration. It means Straumur remains a major creditor of
Hansa, whose biggest asset is West Ham.
'Client confidentiality'
However, Straumur itself has run into the difficulties experienced by a
number of Icelandic banks this year. Unlike many of its peers it has not
been nationalised, but is now undergoing an operational restructuring. It is
possible that Straumur will be taken over by an asset management firm, which
will then decide what decision to take towards Hansa and West Ham. Straumur
bank spokesman Georg Andersen said the bank could not comment on West Ham as
it did not have a business relationship with the club.
And, referring to Mr Gudmundsson's holding company Hansa, he said: "For
confidentiality reasons we cannot comment on individual clients." Although
Straumur is conducting virtually no business at present, the bank is
understood to have been considering various options regarding all of its
clients, including West Ham's holding company Hansa.
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