London: Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has made a $1.3 billion (R8379 crore) bid to take control of Arsenal from rival majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, according to a Financial Times report on Friday.

Uzbekistan-born Usmanov owns 30 per cent of the Premier League club and is said to have recently made the offer in a letter to Kroenke, who controls a 67 per cent stake. Kroenke is yet to formally respond to the offer, but the report says, after initially considering his options, the American sports mogul has decided he has no interest in selling the Gunners.