Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has expressed interest in becoming the owner of English Premier League giants, Arsenal FC.
But the plan to buy the North London club is not an immediate priority for the Nigerian billionaire, as he hopes he can convince the owners to sell “at the right price” in the future, supersport.com says.
The Nigerian said he is ready to offer Arsenal owners “a price they won’t want to resist.”
“I still hope, one day at the right price, that I’ll buy the team. I might buy it, not at a ridiculous price but a price that the owners won’t want to resist. I know my strategy,” supersport.com quoted Dangote as saying to Bloomberg.
Dangote, who is a tycoon dealing in cement and commodities, explained that he wants to focus on his business having invested around $16 billion into it, and will make another attempt at pricing Arsenal away by the time he builds his business empire to “a certain level.”
“We have $16 billion-worth of investments in the next few years. Right now I want to take my own business to a certain level. Once I finish on that trajectory, then maybe [an offer will follow.]”
In 2010, Dangote made attempts to acquire a stake in the English club but discussions broke down.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote is worth three times more than the current major shareholder at Arsenal, Stan Kroenke.
Kroenke, who holds 67 percent of Arsenal, is reportedly worth $5.6 billion while Dangote is valued at $15.7 billion.
But Dangote will have to convince Kroenke to give up his 67 percent shares in the club as well as 30 percent owned by Red and White Sec Limited under the control of Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Why not invest in a Nigerian club instead??
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