A group of financiers are putting together a takeover bid to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family after joining forces with supporters angered by the huge level of debt the US owners have put on the club.
The discussions by the “Red Knight” consortium are being led by soccer deal broker Keith Harris, chairman of investment bankers Seymour Pierce, and Jim O’Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs in conjunction with the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST).
The 18-time English champions have been valued at US$1.8 billion by Forbes Magazine, but the Glazers have consistently insisted that the debt-ridden club is not for sale. Chief executive David Gill refused to say on Tuesday whether the club would consider a bid.
PHOTO: AFP
In its latest set of financial results released on Tuesday, United reported a turnover of £144.7 million (US$216 million) in the six months to Dec. 31, up almost 20 percent year-on-year.
But it’s the level of debt — £716.5 million — arising from Malcolm Glazer’s 2005 leveraged takeover of United that concerns fans.
The groundswell of opposition to the Glazer regime is growing despite the team chasing an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title after collecting its first trophy of the season on Sunday by beating Aston Villa in the League Cup final.
The group of financiers, who describe themselves as being of “high net worth” and style themselves as the “Red Knights,” have hired a leading London public relations firm and met on Monday to formulate plans to raise more than £1 billion.
“This group is supportive of current management but are looking at the feasibility of putting together a proposal to be put to the Glazer family regarding the ownership of Manchester United,” the Red Knights said in a statement.
“These discussions are in early stages and no contact has been made with the Glazer family. For such a proposal to be viable, it would require the involvement and support of Manchester United supporters worldwide,” they said.
“Any new ownership model would aim not only to put the club on a sound financial footing, but would also aim to put the supporters at the heart of everything the club does. In the coming weeks the Red Knights will continue to work with MUST and others to formulate our proposal,” the statement said.
The United supporters group has stepped up its campaign in recent weeks to force the Glazers out of Old Trafford, notably by getting fans to wear green and gold — the colors of Newton Heath, the club’s original name.
Initially, MUST wants to double its membership numbers to 100,000 as a sign that it has the fan power to mount a takeover bid.
“Our role in this is to generate interest among supporters and grow numbers to give us confidence that the groundswell of support is there for us pursue it,” MUST chief executive Duncan Drasdo said.
“A bid could then go in quickly. I don’t know what the time scale will be, but things keep surprising me with this, but I would imagine that it could probably months rather than days or weeks,” he said.
Gill said United would comply with new UEFA financial controls being phased in by 2012.
“We have seen what the proposals are and we would meet the financial break-even rules,” he said. “We as Manchester United have always been run professionally and we will continue to be run professionally.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite