The proposed US bid for the Gold family stake in West Ham has taken two major turns as shots are fired at majority owner David Sullivan.
Takeover speculation has never been far away when it comes to West Ham ever since the club’s move to the London Stadium in 2016.
But new links to a potential bid from the US for the Gold family stake is stirring fresh intrigue and excitement in east London.
The Gold family put as much as 25 per cent of the club up for sale back in October 2023.
Vanessa Gold, who survives her sadly passed former Hammers co-owner father David Gold and sister Jacqueline, announced the intention to sell 19 months ago on the club’s official site.
Major double twist in US bid for West Ham
Previous speculation of US and Middle Eastern interest has never amounted to much.
That looks like it could soon change, though.
It was just last month that a leading Times journalist revealed West Ham were in the midst of investment interest from elsewhere. A change of ownership was even mooted.
Last week that moved a step forward with confirmation that a mystery American investor has been ‘preparing an offer to buy the Gold family shares’.
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As the American consortium ramps up their efforts, fresh developments have emerged and shots are being fired directly at majority owner David Sullivan.
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Earlier this season, boyhood Hammers fan Ray Parlour called on Sullivan to sell West Ham.
Parlour said he believed the only way West Ham would realise their potential as a Champions League club would be if they changed hands.
Now there have been two significant twists to the rumoured US buy-in at West Ham.
Firstly it has been revealed that West Ham shareholder Vanessa Gold has been left with no choice but to sell the family’s entire 25 per cent stake in the club due to mounting debts at Ann Summers.
Claret and Hugh claim pre-tax losses of £13.1m for the year ending 2024 and the fact the company has already cut jobs and taken out a £5m loan mean Gold is actively trying to push through the sale of the shares.
Company debts expediting sale of Gold West Ham share
It has puzzled West Ham fans that there has been no concrete interest in the Gold stakeholding given how keen investors usually are to jump aboard the Premier League gravytrain.
But the Gold estate has only just exited probate, meaning the West Ham shares can only now be legally sold.
With the Ann Summers situation forcing the full quarter of the club to be on the market, there has been another huge revelation.
Because the mystery man orchestrating the bid is not such a mystery at all.
Photo by Matteo Ciambelli/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
Photo by Matteo Ciambelli/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
Mystery man unmasked as investors take aim at Sullivan
And his desire to front the new US bid is being driven by the belief Sullivan does not have the financial wherewithal to really drive West Ham forward into the future.
Hammers News looked at the three most likely candidates behind the US West Ham bid last week.
Now that person has been unmasked as one of those three names – American Albert ‘Tripp’ Smith.
The American investment executive, who already owns eight per cent of the club, was the co-founder of GSO Capital Partners, the credit investment platform of The Blackstone Group.
Smith has serious money himself but it is the people he associates with that will be ploughing money into the Hammers should he get his way.
Because Claret and Hugh now claim it is indeed Smith who is in active talks with two US-based investment groups about buying the Gold share.
The site claims sources have stated there is a ‘growing belief that Sullivan lacks the financial firepower to push the club forward’.
It is also claimed future ownership of the London Stadium is seen as a dangling carrot by the US investors Smith is encouraging bids from.
There is never a dull moment at West Ham.
But for the first time since Daniel Kretinsky purchased 27 per cent of West Ham in 2021, these investment claims look to have legs.