Stoke Holding SA is a company created in 1999 headed by Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic businessman Magnus Kristinsson. The company is based in Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

, and financed by an Icelandic bank.

The company purchased 70% of the shares in Stoke City Football Club from Peter Coates

Peter Coates

Peter Coates is a businessman and current owner of the Stoke City Football Club. He has been listed as the 25th richest person in British football. He founded Bet365 in 2000, as well as Signal Radio in 1983....

 in 1999 for a fee of £3.5m. 10% of these shares were then sold to businessman Phil Rawlins.

On May 5th 2006, the company decided to sell their shares in the club back to Peter Coates

Peter Coates

Peter Coates is a businessman and current owner of the Stoke City Football Club. He has been listed as the 25th richest person in British football. He founded Bet365 in 2000, as well as Signal Radio in 1983....

for £1.7 million http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2006/05/26/local_tv_archive_coates_back_at_stoke_city_0506_feature.shtml.