London: American sports mogul Stan Kroenke raised his stake in Arsenal to 29.6 percent on Tuesday, edging him closer to the 29.9 percent threshold that would force him to make an offer for the remaining shares.
Kroenke, the club's largest shareholder, bought another 427 shares in the Premier League club for 3.6 million pounds (USD 5.86 million), Arsenal Holdings PLC said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
He had previously owned 28.9 percent.
Arsenal, currently third in the Premier League, have been the subject of takeover speculation since Kroenke and Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov began building stakes in the club.
Usmanov owns around 25 percent of the club's shares.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, November 04, 2009, 09:02