Lifelong Hammers fan Sullivan has taken control after acquiring 50% of the club in a deal which values the club at £105million, with David Gold joining as joint chairman and Karren Brady becoming vice-chairman. Sullivan went to university in the area while Gold, who played for the Hammers youth team, grew up very close to Upton Park. He told Sky Sports News: "We have wanted to be here for 20-odd years. Together we owned 27% of the club 22 years ago, so it's taken us 22 years to be where we really wanted to be. I'm still in a state of shock. "It has been a tough few weeks of negotiations, we have competed with two very serious bidders and unbeknown to us, right up until 11pm last night we thought we were getting the club and the other two thought they were getting the club. It only came out at five to 11 last night that we had finally got the club." Sullivan was delighted that he and Gold had returned to their roots. "Me and David grew up here, David literally lived 50 yards from the ground for 20 years and played for the West Ham youth team, and we just want to be here. There is no other club in country we'd prefer to be at. We've come home." Gold added: "This is a very exciting experience for David and I, we dreamt of this for many years and we just never felt it would happen, we thought the opportunity had gone forever. But here we are today." Sullivan and Gold own 50% of the club, with the former revealing he has an option on the remaining shares in the club. Nevertheless, with the club in perilous financial straits, he is hopeful of attracting a team of wealthy investors to help get the Hammers back on track. "We own 50% of the club but I have an option on the other 50. I would share that with David but I would like to have four or five West Ham supporters with lots of money to come in. "The debts here are so large that most Englishmen can't carry them so we would like to share them with others and help take West Ham to the next level. "The bank Straumur own the other 50% right now and my option to buy is for anytime in the next four years. "Our preferred option is that we find other people who want five or 10% and we will go to Tony Fernandes, who was one of the others interested in buying the club."
