What's next for West Ham after failed Amanda Staveley takeover
West Ham shareholders successfully defeated Amanda Staveley's bid to takeover the club.
The former Newcastle owner had attempted to purchase Vanessa Gold's 25.1 per cent shareholding.
Her bid was backed by Ashland Forest Capital Partners, and the stake would have been worth approximately £150million.
However, she was hamstrung by pre-emption rights, which allowed the Irons' current ownership structure to match any offer.
Daniel Kretinsky, David Sullivan and Albert Tripp-Smith combined to deny her the chance to gain a piece of the pie at the London Stadium.
West Ham News looks at what is next for Nuno Espirito Santo's side after the takeover failed.
What will Daniel Kretinsky do next at West Ham?
Kretinsky ultimately thwarted Staveley's attempts to muscle in at the Championship club.
He bought Gold's stakes to increase his shareholding to 46 per cent, but he is still not the majority shareholder.
That label would require him to extend his shares to over 50 per cent, although he does still have a lot of control over decisions.
Whether he will end up increasing his stake to go over the threshold remains to be seen.
It would mean that he no longer needs to convince other shareholders when it comes to making the important calls, such as signing players like Arne Engels for big money .
One of those is Sullivan, and his involvement has come under question in recent months.
Will David Sullivan walk away from West Ham?
Sullivan increased his stake to 40 per cent, as part of the agreement to keep Staveley away.
His continued ownership has been controversial, with historical allegations levelled by the BBC's Panorama.
However, a source connected with the E20 outfit told the i News that he would remain.
In a report released on 18 September, they said: “I think if David Sullivan was going to leave he would have done so by now...
"Yes, he has resigned from the board but he now has 40 per cent of the club shareholding, so in that sense it looks like, for the moment, he isn’t going anywhere."
Perhaps that is not a surprise as the 77-year-old has attended games despite it being recommended that he avoids doing that.
That would suggest that he has no wishes to abandon his shareholding at the moment.
Will Staveley come back to the Hammers in the future?
Staveley could still return to the table, despite failing to purchase a stake in the Hammers.
The PCP Capital group that she controls are said to be "undeterred" by the recent developments, per i News.
Their report states that Staveley will be patient, as she was with the Newcastle takeover, which took four years to facilitate, and the current situation makes a future move easier.
A source close to the British businesswoman said: “What it has done is simplify the whole thing.
“Before this episode it was a lot more complicated, but now either through Kretinsky and Albert Tripp-Smith or Sullivan and Tripp-Smith, there is a passage to a majority of 51 per cent or more, so the stakes are potentially much higher the next time there is an offer.
“Pre-emption rights would still be there but it forces the issue, they either all fold in and accept a bid or one or the other [of the existing shareholders] ‘pre-empts’ an offer and has the majority shareholding, but to do that you’d be talking about serious amounts of money.”
That suggests that the 53-year-old may not have given up on her attempts just yet.