Sir Alan Sugar has sold his shares in his favourite football club Tottenham Hotspur football club for £25m.
The serial entrepreneur and star of The Apprentice has directed his company Amshold to sell its 12% stake in the North London club to the sports and media group ENIC International.
ENIC now owns 66% of AIM-listed Tottenham and is understood to be bidding for the remainder of the business which is valued at £209.5m.
ENIC which is owned by the Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis must now persuade Polys Haji-Ioannou, brother of easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, to sell of his 9% stake if they are to gain full ownership.
Haji-Ioannou is now the only other large shareholder in the Premiership club.
In a statement ENIC said: “Tottenham Hotspur has made significant progress in the six years since the ENIC Group first became a shareholder and we believe its future prospects are encouraging.
“ENIC International has now taken the opportunity to increase its shareholding in Tottenham Hotspur, taking it from 54% to 66%on a fully diluted basis, as a sign of its long term confidence in the club and to provide ongoing stability to the club.
“Although the agreement with Amshold has triggered offers under Rule 9 of the City Code, it is our current expectation that Tottenham Hotspur’s AIM listing will be maintained.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
