Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa, wants to be the next owner of Arsenal Football Club.
After first announcing his intention to buy the North London team last year, Dangote has put a firm timeline on the deal, saying the purchase is "three to four years" away.
Nigerian entrepreneur Dangote, who actually lost $4.4 billion this year due to a fall in the value of Nigerian currency, is an Arsenal and made his value in construction and real estate with Dangote Cement Plc, spoke to Bloomberg about the deal:
"There's no doubt [I'll buy Arsenal]. Maybe three to four years. The issue is that we have more challenging headwinds. I need to get those out the way first and start having tailwinds. Then I’ll focus on this.
It’s not about buying Arsenal and just continuing with business as usual. It’s about buying Arsenal and turning it around. I’ve run a very successful business and I think I can also run a very successful team. Right now, with what we’re facing, over $20 billion of projects, I cannot do both."
Arsenal's largest shareholder, Stan Kroenke, owns 67 per cent of Arsenal Holdings and is worth $7 billion – so even with his recent loss of cash, Dangote could still claim to be the best man to take the club forward.
[via Bloomberg]
