Thompson to sell up?

31 March 2003

According to a report in the Evening Mail, ex-Chairman Paul Thompson has agreed to sell his 30% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion to his successor, Jeremy Peace. The price agreed is £55, which values Thompson's holding at around £2.3 million. However, the offer is subject to Peace completing the deal within a few days, and under Stock Market rules Peace will be obliged to make an offer to all shareholders to buy their shares at the same price - which could cost him up to a further £3 million, depending how many of them accept the offer.

Last week, Peace stated on local radio that Thompson had put his shares up for sale at £70 each, which he said was too high under the current market conditions - and that if he dropped the price a deal could be done. Thompson now appears to be calling his bluff, and has perhaps surprised the Club, who have yet to make any statement on the matter. The offer to buy the shares was, according to the report, made in person by Peace in a meeting with Thompson a few weeks ago and subsequently backed up by a letter from the Club.

Even if no other shareholders accept the offer, Peace will still have 60% of the shares and almost complete control of the Club, although certain changes to it's structure require 75% of the vote to go ahead. The good thing is that it will finally lay to rest any chances of future power struggles - for instance, motions to remove Peace from the Board only require 50% of the vote and would therefore not succeed. The bad thing is that if Peace fails to deliver the goods, we're stuck with him - just ask Villa fans if they think that having one person with complete control is a good idea...

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