Sugar won't hide from hate mob

Alan Sugar will not hide from the hate mob who are driving him out of Tottenham as he pledged to attend tonight's London derby with Arsenal at White Hart Lane.

The Spurs chairman has finally decided to sell his majority stake in the club amid mounting hostility from a group of disaffected fans. During the last month those supporters have been using increasingly direct tactics to try to force Sugar to go.

A sustained protest campaign is said to have included posting his mobile phone number on the internet and his opponents will celebrate before tonight's encounter at White Hart Lane. But Nick Hewer, Sugar's spokesman, said he won't bow to pressure and miss the match.

Hewer commented: "He will definitely go, he won't hide away. The supporters opposed to him are a minority and they're not as important in all this as some people are making out."

Although he has expressed an interest in selling up before, Sugar is thought to be determined to walk away this time.

The possibility that he would sell his 40 per cent stake first arose at the club's annual meeting on 7 December.

He told shareholders that if someone made him the right offer he would be happy to go.

This weekend he confirmed: "I'm definitely moving out of my position. A decision has been made. We are looking for a good custodian to replace me as chairman and owner. We will be looking for someone else to take my place in the next month."

A statement from Tottenham Hotspur plc to the City confirmed: "Sir Alan Sugar and Amshold Limited confirm they actively seeking to find a buyer for their shares in Tottenham Hotspur plc and are currently in negotiation with various parties."

ENIC, the international leisure and new media group who already own stakes in Glasgow Rangers, Slavia Prague, Vicenza and FC Basel, are thought to be the most likely contenders to take over.

Sugar is believed to be asking 90 pence per share. Tottenham shares were trading around the 52p mark on Friday, but within 20 minutes of the Stock Market opening this morning, they had risen 12 and a half per cent to 58 and a half pence.

By mid-morning, they were back down to 57p in the wake of reports that ENIC could be ready to step in with a bid.

ENIC, owned by Bahamas-based British tycoon Joe Lewis, are thought to be prepared to pay no more than 80p per share.

Any purchaser will have to pay around £100m as Stock Market regulations state that because Sugar owns more than 29.9 per cent bidders will have to extend the same offer to all Spurs shareholders.

Hewer added he didn't believe a firm offer from ENIC was on the table, but confirmed that there were at least two more interested parties. Those could include Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the multi-millionaire owner of EasyJet whose brother Polys already owns a six per cent stake in the club.

Birmingham chairman David Sullivan has also said he would consider a bid while a number of media companies, including Sky and ntl, are believed to be closely watching the situation.

Meanwhile, Sugar was today told he has no chance of taking over from Barry Hearn at Leyton Orient.

Sugar was reported to be interested in buying a stake at another club once he had sold Spurs.

His son Daniel is head of operations at White Hart Lane and would probably be forced to find a new challenge when his father leaves.

Sugar may want to help him do that by investing elsewhere and Daniel has enquired about taking over at Orient before. However, Hearn, chairman of the Brisbane Road club, said: "Orient is less available now than it was when they came in before.

"I am not seeking to bring in anyone and any approach would be of no interest to me in any way.

"I know Alan and Daniel very well and you can never say never, but they were not serious last time we talked about Orient and I have not had any contact on the subject since."

Daniel Sugar talked to Hearn about taking over Orient last season. His approach was rejected, but Football League and Premier League rules would probably have precluded any significant ownership because of his father's shareholding in Spurs.

Sugar junior is a lifelong Tottenham supporter who worked at Amstrad - his dad's computer empire - before moving to White Hart Lane.

He has been responsible for restructuring Spurs' scouting network and dealing with all football-related activities, including handling agents involved in transfers.

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