Im a Manchester United shareholder. Why is there such hostility towards a proposed bid from Malcolm Glazer?
There has yet to be a formal bid but there has unquestionably been a proposal which the United board are considering before making an announcement to the Stock Exchange and recommending a course of action to the shareholders. It is understood that such a bid would be an offer at 300p per share (current price around 272p) which would value United at around 800 million. Of this, it is believed that 500 million would come from Glazer’s own money and the remaining 300 million would be made up of debt (Man Utd is currently debt free). The worries from shareholders (and most vociferously from fans) are – the taking on of debt, which they believe may result in higher ticket prices and the lack of a transfer budget as the debt is repaid – and of course the loss of independence of Man United’s own existence. Core to the whole situation, though, is the shareholding of the two Irish magnates (McManus and Magnier) via their investment vehicle Cubic Expression, which holds 29% of the shares – witho
