ITV tonight triggered speculation that the US billionaire Stan Kroenke was set to takeover Arsenal by selling him its 10 per cent stake in the premiership football club for £65 million.

The sale, along with ITV's 50 per cent stake in the team's broadband company Arsenal Broadband, comes after intense speculation that Mr Kroenke, the owner of the Colorado Rapids Major League Soccer team, the Denver Nuggets basketball franchise and the Colorado Avalanche ice hockey team, was about to bid for the entire club.

Arsenal's shares, listed on Plus Markets, have soared in recent weeks as rumours of a sale mounted.

Arsenal's biggest shareholder Danny Fiszman offloaded one per cent of his 25 per cent stake for £3.9 million last month, further stoking rumours that the club was for sale.

Keith Edelman, the managing director, has insisted that the board of directors were "committed'' to the club, but has been careful not to rule out a sale.

Last September, Arsenal denied reports that the Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska was about to make A £350 million takeover. But the owners may be willing to sell following the debts racked up by a £380 million move from Highbury to a new bigger, 60,000 capacity Emirates Stadium. Boosted revenues from the new stadium also make the club a more interesting proposition for predators.

In February, the North London club entered into an exclusive agreement with Kroenke Sports Enterprises with the aim of improving awareness of the Arsenal brand in the United States, while helping the development of Colorado Rapids and aiding the game in the US in general at grassroots level.

Premiership clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa have been targeted by American investors as business prospects that eventually will generate huge profits.

ITV bought the stake in 2000 for £77 million, although it wrote down the value of this in its books some time ago. It has been looking to sell the stake for at least a year.

Tonight it said the deal: "Represents a further example of ITV's successful disposal programme of non core assets."

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