By Bill Wilson
Business reporter, BBC News
The company which owns West Ham United has confirmed "a lot of people have
shown an interest" in acquiring all or part of the London football club. CB
Holding acquired the club last year after its Icelandic owners went bust.
The owner has now hired Rothschild Bank to sound out potential investors in
the Premier League club and says it has held "talks with a number of
parties".
Reported suitors include London finance company Intermarket and Asian tycoon
Tony Fernandes. Former Birmingham City owners David Gold and David Sullivan
are also reported to have shown an interest in the Hammers. CB Holding,
whose biggest shareholder is Icelandic bank Straumur, would neither confirm
or deny the names of any potential buyers but said it had signed a number of
iterested parties to a confidentiality agreement not to reveal the progress
of negotiations. However, last week Intermarket indicated that it hoped to
put forward a bid for the club this week. Since then Intermarket has not
made any comment except to confirm that it has been in talks with
Rothschilds.
Meanwhile, West Ham's owners say they do not have to sell. "We are looking
for a good price for the club, we are in no hurry to sell, and under no
pressure to do so," said a spokesman for CB Holding. "If we decided on a
buyer or a specific partner for the club, we would make sure we did whatever
was best for West Ham United." He said the club was not putting a price on
either the whole club or portions of it.
A bid from former Birmingham City co-owner David Sullivan in December was
reportedly worth £46m for a 50% controlling stake in West Ham. CB Holding
also says that there is no pressure on West Ham to sell players in the
current transfer window to raise cash for its owners. "If they do sell
players then that money will be available to the manager [Gianfranco Zola]
to buy further players for his squad," the spokesman said. "Our strategy is
not to take money out of the club."
Chief shareholder Straumur has been bailed out by its own government , but
the bank's position became more secure in December when a moratorium on its
debt repayments was extended until September 2010. But with West Ham
skirting the relegation zone it may be in the owners' interest to secure a
sale of the club now rather than risk relegation and a drop in the potential
selling price.
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