December 2006
West Ham - September 2006
On 1 September 2006, West Ham announced that it had been approached by, and held exploratory discussions with, an interested party in relation to a possible bid. Following this approach, discussions were held with WH Holding and other interested parties, with a view to consummating a transaction which would be in the best interests of the Club and West Ham shareholders.
These discussions with interested parties resulted in an offer by WH Holding of 421 pence per share, which the Board of West Ham recommended to shareholders. This offer valued the equity at approximately £85m. At the time of the offer announcement, WH Holding had received irrevocables for circa 83 per cent. of the issued equity.
West Ham is the holding company for West Ham United Football Club, one of the foremost professional football clubs in the FA Premier League, the richest football league in world football.
WH Holding was incorporated exclusively for the purpose of making the offer for West Ham. Its Directors at the time of the offer were Eggert Magnusson, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, Thor Kristjansson and Gudmundur J. Oddsson. Eggert Magnusson has been president of the Football Association of Iceland since 1989 and was elected to the UEFA Executive Committee in April 2002. Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is an international investor and Chairman of the non-executive board of Landsbanki, a leading Icelandic bank.
On the 8 December 2006, WH Holding announced that the Offer had been declared unconditional in all respects.
Canaccord Genuity acted as Rule 3 advisor to West Ham United plc.