Bloomberg are reported that the Glazer family are discussing selling a minority stake in Manchester United
Reports say that The owners have held some preliminary discussions about the possibility of bringing in a new investor, the insider said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential.
Discussions are ongoing and there’s no certainty the Glazers will decide to sell a stake in the club.
Walid Koudmani, chief market analyst at financial brokerage XTB comments:
“Shares in Manchester United rose more than 7% in early trading before pulling back with investors boosted to hear news that the Glazer family would consider selling a minority stake in the club.
With Bloomberg reporting that the Glazer family has held preliminary discussions about bringing a new investor into the club, the question turns to any potential valuation. The current share price sets a market capitalisation of $2.1bn but it’s clear that the Glazers would expect a valuation closer to $6bn, which would make Man Utd the most expensive football team in the world.
Fans of Man Utd will be excited to learn that a minority stake sale is looming as this opens a door to a new insider in the club who could look to buy larger stakes in due course. Indeed, this was the case at Arsenal with Stan Kroenke entering the club with a minority stake before buying up larger pieces in the years later.
The vigour amongst Man Utd fans to replace the Glazers as the clubs owners has been loudest in recent months as the downturn of one of England’s biggest football clubs reached new lows on the weekend with a poor start to the new league season. Yet fans should not be jumping for joy yet. It seems the Glazers want to maintain majority control so it’s unlikely the family will be out of the club anytime soon. Nevertheless, a minority stake sale certainly opens a door that looked closed previously.””
