MANCHESTER UNITED COULD be preparing to return to the stock market, six years after Malcolm Glazer bought the entire club and saddled it with millions in debt.
The Sunday Mirror yesterday reported that Glazer and his family are preparing to launch an Initial Public Offering of the club – essentially a flotation on the stock exchange – allowing the public to buy shares in the club once more.
The move – which will see the Glazers put a quarter of their shareholding up for sale – could potentially raise up to £400m for the club, which is paying out a massive £45m every year simply to pay the interest on its current debt.
It would also further tighten the family’s grip on the club, however, and make it more difficult for potential suitors such as the so-called Red Knights consortium to unseat them from Old Trafford.
It could also allow the Glazers to treat the club as more of a cash cow – by being able to pay shareholders, including themselves, dividends based on the club’s potential profits.
A fundraising move like a partial flotation would also raise hundreds of millions which the club could potentially use to bolster its playing squad.
A club spokesperson told Bloomberg it would not comment on the speculation.
The Glazers’ takeover in 2005 was bitterly opposed by many fans, who wanted to maintain the club’s prior debt-free status.
