Spotify CEO Daniel Ek preparing improved Arsenal takeover bid

Arsenal could be the subject of a fresh takeover bid from Spotify co-founder and chief executive Daniel Ek after an initial offer worth £1.8bn was rejected by the Kroenke family last month.

Ek’s interest in buying Arsenal has come to light since the Gunners’ involvement in the Super League scandal sparked major fan protests against Stan Kroenke and his ownership of the club.

The Swede was told when his last bid was rejected that that the Kroenke family ‘didn’t need the money’, but the Daily Mail writes that an improved offer in excess of £2bn is being prepared. What’s more, people at the club are said to be expecting a new offer to come.

Ek’s bid team even includes the support of Arsenal legends Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira and it is thought an additional £300m on the table could at least given Kroenke and his son Josh, who serves on the board as a director and has more day to day involvement than his father, something to think about and test their current resolve not to sell.

Arsenal were recently valued as the eighth most valuable football club in the world by Forbes in the financial publication’s latest annual list at the equivalent of £1.99bn. That also makes the Gunners the joint 43rd most valuable team across all sports globally.

Any new bid from Ek, has previously stated that he has been an Arsenal fan since childhood, would be offering the Kroenke family more than the club is worth.

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, another Arsenal supporter, has also been regularly linked with a takeover bid in recent years. However, years of ambitious public statements from the industrialist and commodities mogul have so far never yielded a formal offer.

Kroenke, who is also owner of numerous sports teams in the United States – including LA Rams (NFL) and Denver Nuggets (NBA) – bought his first shares in Arsenal in 2007. He achieved a controlling majority in 2011 and eventually bought out the remaining shares in 2018.

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