West Ham women's team sale talks stall amid Sullivan crisis

Talks about the sale of a stake in West Ham United's women's team have stalled amid a move by the buyer to acquire it outright, amid allegations of sexual misconduct involving the club's biggest shareholder.

Sky News has learnt that negotiations between West Ham executives and Monarch Collective, an investment vehicle set up to acquire women's sports teams, have hit an impasse after nearly a year of discussions.

Sources said that Monarch Collective had tried to accelerate a deal that would involve it buying 100% of the Hammers' women's side in recent months, with the club engulfed by the crisis involving its shareholder and former joint chairman, David Sullivan.

Mr Sullivan stepped down from his role in June amid allegations aired in a BBC Panorama episode about his behaviour towards women during his career as a newspaper proprietor.

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It subsequently emerged that he had been banned from having contact with West Ham's women's and youth teams since 2023.

Mr Sullivan has denied any "illegal conduct" in a statement issued by his lawyers.

He remains the largest shareholder in the club - whose men's team was relegated to the second tier on the final day of the Premier League season - with a 38.8% stake.

Reports have suggested that Mr Sullivan is open to the sale of his stake.

His status as West Ham's biggest investor is in any case likely to end by virtue of an agreement struck by the Royal Mail Group owner, Daniel Kretinsky, to acquire a stake owned by Vanessa Gold.

If completed, the deal would take Mr Kretinsky's stake to 43%.

They stated their intention to finalise a deal within "a couple of weeks" of their 13 June announcement, although it is not yet thought to have been concluded.

Sources said that West Ham was not currently minded to accede to Monarch Collective's request to buy the club's women's team outright.

Negotiations over a deal emerged last August, and were focused on Monarch Collective buying up to 49% of the team in a deal valuing it at £55m.

West Ham finished in 10th place in last season's Women's Super League table, with only Liverpool and Leicester City coming beneath them.

It was unclear on Thursday whether the talks with Monarch Collective were likely to progress further.

Kara Nortman, co-founder of Monarch Collective and Angel City FC, hinted at difficulties finalising the West Ham deal when she told The Guardian last month: "A lot of the WSL clubs are still afterthoughts, unfortunately, and adjuncts to the men's team.

"They're not investing what they could be."

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In the last year, clubs including Chelsea and Everton have sold stakes in their women's teams, with some transactions involving parties connected to the existing club owners.

Currently, none of the WSL clubs are owned entirely independently of their equivalent men's teams.

A spokesman for West Ham declined to comment, while Monarch Collective failed to respond to an email requesting comment.

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