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Kroenke begins Arsenal takeover - reports

Stan Kroenke could be set to launch a bid for full control of Arsenal © Getty Images

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American businessman Stan Kroenke is in advanced talks to take full control of Arsenal, according to reports.

Kroenke currently owns shares worth 29.9 per cent of the club, leaving him needing just another 0.09 per cent to launch a compulsory takeover offer for all the other shares.

That he could now be set to do, as various sources report he has reached agreements with current club shareholders Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith - who previously instructed brokers Blackstone to find a buyer for her 15.9 per cent stake - and Danny Fiszman (16.1 per cent) to take on their respective holdings.

If those negotiations are finalised, Kroenke would secure approximately 62 per cent of the club - and would thus have to make offers to the various owners of the remaining 38 per cent, including Uzbeki businessman Alisher Usmanov.

Usmanov's move for the club, which began with his 14.58% purchase in August 2007, eventually rising to 25% in Feburaty 2009, has been stymied by a 'lock-down' agreement by the Gunners' board, whereby chairman Peter Hill-Wood announced that club directors could sell their stakes only to 'permitted persons' before April 2009 and had to give fellow board members 'first option' on shares until October 2012.

Kroenke began his interest in the north London club in 2007, when he bought the 9.9 per cent previously owned by Granada. He joined the Arsenal board in 2008 as preparations were made for an expected takeover bid, and has steadily increased his interest ever since.

A sizeable presence in American sports, he owns controlling interests in NFL's St Louis Rams, the NBA's Denver Nuggets and MLS's Colorado Rapids.

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