Cb Holding Seals West Ham Takeover

Following a long-standing financial crisis surrounding West Ham and its Icelandic chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, the club has now officially been bought by asset management company CB Holding.

The club needed to be sold by Monday 8th June in order to prevent creditors seizing its assets and forcing the sale.

Falling into immense debt during the credit crunch, Gudmundsson was unable to put off the deadline any longer and CB Holding was set up last week by a selection of the club’s major creditors.

Now Gudmundsson and vice-chairman Asgeir Fridgeirsson have resigned from the club’s board with Andrew Bernhardt, a senior director with Iceland’s Straumur Bank (the major shareholder of CB Holding) taking over.

The new chairman claimed a two-year plan to improve West Ham’s infrastructure and develop a new board will be set in motion, adding that the club’s management team of Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke will remain central players in the coming developments.

Gudmundsson bought West Ham for £85m in November 2006 and has invested a further £30m in the club since then.

The takeover by CB Holding and Bernhardt ends months of uncertainty and financial weariness for the club, as Gudmundsson’s position with creditors has kept West Ham’s name in industry headlines ever since Iceland’s economy literally crumpled last year.