African richest billionaire, Aliko Dangote may have lost interest in becoming the highest shareholder of English football club, Arsenal FC.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV at the New Economy Forum in Singapore, Dangote disclosed that he may no longer buy the football club should the controlling shareholder Stan Kroenke refuses to sell.
Dangote also made known that he would consider buying another soccer club other than the London-based Arsenal.
“I’m very attached to Arsenal but if he won’t sell, I might have to change.
“I’m very much a fan of football. I have to have a club. I don’t have to own Arsenal.”
The billionaire who’s also an Arsenal fan has long made known his intention to be the highest shareholder of the premier league team after completing one of the world’s biggest oil refineries in Lagos, Nigeria.
Dangote also has on his to-do list the investment of billions of dollars in sugar, rice and dairy production and the listing of Dangote Cement on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
“By the time we’ve finished, we’ll be a $30 billion company in terms of revenue.
“We’ll have an excess amount of cash to start playing around with.”
The refinery is scheduled to start producing fuel in early 2020, and Lagos-based Dangote Cement Plc will probably be listed in London around September next year.
Meanwhile, Kroenke owns almost all of Arsenal after buying Russian billionaire, Alisher Usmanov’s 30 per cent stake in August in a deal that valued the club at about £1.8 billion ($2.4 billion).
