‘Great Distress’: What latest Kretinsky remark implies for West Ham as £1 billion scheme revealed

Daniel Kretinsky, West Ham’s co-owner, is no stranger to managing various investment ventures.

The tycoon, nicknamed the ‘Czech sphinx’ due to his poker-faced business style, also owns Sparta Prague and hundreds of other companies through his EPH Holdings organization.

However, the 48-year-old’s recent attention has been focused on his planned takeover of Royal Mail parent firm IDS, in which he already holds a significant share.

Kretinsky is now believed to be preparing to make another large acquisition, this time of French IT firm Atos.

He has the option of completing a full takeover of West Ham, but his recent business initiatives have sparked concerns that this may no longer be at the top of his priority.

Kretinsky’s remarks about latest business venture

According to The Telegraph, Kretinsky admits that Atos is a firm in “great distress.”

“[Atos has been] disoriented by a strategic deadlock and suffocated by an accumulation of accounting and financial problems,” the statement said.

The company, for which Kretinsky is mounting an offer of almost £1 billion, has massive debts and a lot of critical contracts for the 2017 Paris Olympics.

Turning around a corporation with £11 billion in revenue and a deficit of roughly £3.5 billion in the previous set of finances is an arduous assignment that, if completed, will take up a significant amount of Kretinsky’s time.

However, a few rumors in recent months have claimed that the businessman is increasingly in control of the Hammers.

For example, while David Sullivan and Karen Brady are still the most visible figures in club affairs, it is thought that Kretinsky drove the decision to replace David Moyes for the 2024-25 season.

When could Kretinsky complete full West Ham takeover?

Kretinsky, through his 1890s Holdings business, is West Ham’s second-largest shareholder at 27%.

Significantly, the late David Gold’s family is expected to sell a 10% stake in the company.

If Kretinsky decides to buy 3% or more of the Gold shares, he will be obligated to launch a full takeover effort.

In theory, this can happen at any time. Given the tumultuous relationship between West Ham fans and the Sullivan-Brady government, this could be a good thing.

However, given that shares have not moved since the Gold family listed them about a year ago, it appears doubtful that Kretinsky will launch a takeover attempt at this time.

He is already fighting on two fronts with his drive to buy two companies, Royal Mail and Atos, with a combined worth of well over £10 billion. At this point, a third might not be in his best interest.