Hammers bid expected
An Icelandic consortium are expected to announce within the next 24 hours that they have agreed a deal with West Ham’s owners to take over the club.
A statement is due to be made to the Stock Exchange when the final remaining financial details are completed. The announcement may come this afternoon though it could be delayed until tomorrow morning.
Eggert Magnusson, the president of the Icelandic FA and member of UEFA’s executive committee, is set to replace Terry Brown as chairman although he will resign his administrative posts at the same time.
Magnusson met Brown over the weekend and confirmed that after completing the due diligence on Friday the consortium were preparing a formal offer.
The offer, which has been agreed with the main shareholders of the club, is expected to be for £75m (€110m), plus taking on the £22.5m (€33m) debt.
The consortium’s main backer is billionaire financier Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, chairman of the Icelandic bank Landsbanki.
The takeover should not affect manager Alan Pardew’s position greatly - Magnusson has already met the Hammers boss to reassure him of his support and that he will have funds for signings in the January transfer window.
Less secure however are the positions of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, the Argentinian players brought to West Ham by Iranian-born Kia Joorabchian who then led his own takeover attempt but one which failed to lead to any offer for the club.
Tevez and Mascherano have been notable failures and their arrival has even been blamed for unsettling the squad.
