Alarm for Gunners

Arsenal’s long-term ownership was thrown into doubt last night after they were made vulnerable to an aggressive takeover bid.

HILL WOOD Sale HILL-WOOD: Sale

Director and major shareholder Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, whose family has a 70-year link with the Gunners, has left the board “with immediate effect” – a year after saying she had never considered selling her stake.

Arsenal also announced that Richard Carr is resigning from the company’s board after 27 years.

Bracewell-Smith, the third largest shareholder with a 15.9 per cent stake in the company, was part of a lockdown agreement taken in October 2007.

The directors, who controlled almost 46 per cent of the club, pledged then not to sell their shares to anyone outside of close family until April 2009, to prevent a takeover.

But chairman Peter Hill-Wood confirmed Bracewell-Smith is free to leave the agreement and dispose of her shareholding.

He said: “Lady Nina is no longer representing the club and therefore is released from the lockdown. It was created to maintain stability and those participants are committed to maintaining the ownership structure.”

Takeover speculation has been rife since Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke began acquiring shares.

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