Daniel Kretinsky is poised to become West Ham’s largest shareholder after reaching an agreement with David Sullivan, weakening Amanda Staveley’s attempt to acquire a stake in the Championship club.
Staveley attended West Ham’s 4-2 victory over Wolves at the London Stadium earlier this week while pursuing Vanessa Gold’s 25.1% holding. The British businesswoman, who previously served as a Newcastle director, agreed terms with the Gold family in July and was leading a consortium seeking representation on the east London club’s board.
That agreement triggered a process giving West Ham’s existing shareholders the opportunity to use their pre-emption rights over the Gold family’s shares before Thursday’s 5.30pm deadline. Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire who owns Royal Mail, is understood to have reached a deal with Sullivan that would increase his holding from 27% to 46%. Sources indicate that Staveley’s consortium is now unlikely to revive its bid.
Kretinsky is expected to overtake Sullivan as the club’s leading shareholder and has reportedly remained committed to expanding his investment in West Ham as the team attempts to recover from last season’s Premier League relegation. Staveley’s interest had made those plans more complicated.
Sullivan is also understood to have rejected an approach from Staveley about purchasing his shares during the summer. The 77-year-old privately signalled that he preferred to negotiate with Kretinsky, who initially invested in West Ham in November 2021. Under the proposed arrangement, Sullivan’s holding would rise from 38.8% to 40%, leaving him as the second-largest shareholder. American businessman Tripp Smith would increase his stake from 8% to 11%, while the combined holding of the remaining shareholders would grow from 1.1% to 3%. Staveley could make a separate offer for the Gold shares only if existing shareholders declined to exercise their pre-emption rights.
Sullivan resigned as a West Ham director and co-chair in June following a joint investigation by the Times and Panorama that reported allegations from seven women who accused him of abusing his position and pursuing them for sex in incidents said to date from the 1980s and 1990s. He firmly denies the claims. Although Sullivan has attended West Ham’s home matches this season, he no longer sits on the board and is no longer the club’s most influential figure.
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