Stan Kroenke ups stake in Arsenal once again

American tycoon Stan Kroenke has inched closer to assuming control of Arsenal with another purchase of shares, taking his stake to 28.9 per cent - just one per cent shy of the mark that would trigger a formal takeover bid.
 
His latest acquisition of 90 shares, worth £8,500 each, is equivalent to just 0.2 per cent of the club, But it means Kroenke is now only 645 shares away from reaching the threshold at which he must bid for all other shares.
 
The move comes just two weeks after the sports mogul last increased his stake in Arsenal.
 
Earlier this week it was reported that Kroenke, a non-executive director at the Emirates, who also owns the Denver Nuggets basketball team and almost half of the NFL team St Louis Rams and other sports franchises, had yet to pay for many of the Arsenal shares he already owns. He was said to owe £50m to club directors including Danny Fiszman, Richard Carr and to other influential Emirates figures.
 
His continuing acquisition of shares suggests he is in a race with rival Alisher Usmanov to reach the 29.9 per cent mark. His group Red and White holdings is just four per cent away from a takeover.
 
Although the American is a divisive figure at the Emirates - chairman Peter Hill-Wood once said they did not want his "sort" at the club - he is now seen as preferable to Usmanov, the mysterious Uzbekistani metals magnate.
 
Indeed, such is the turnaround in perceptions of Kroenke that he has been praised as a "model owner" by Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis. ·