Consortium raise 1.5bn?

Sixty super-rich investors have pledged up to £1.5 billion in their bid to seize control of Manchester United, The Times can reveal.

Although the Glazer family have insisted that the champions are not for sale, the leaders of the Red Knights, the group of leading City financiers behind the move, will sit at their round table today to sift through a rich list of applicants ready to back a buyout.

“We thought we had 40 investors — well, it is already 60,” one of the Knights said last night.

The strength of the bid will become clear later today when Jim O’Neill, head of global economic research at Goldman Sachs and a lifelong United supporter, and his team analyse the offers on the table at the City headquarters of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, the law firm.

With him will be Mark Rawlinson, a senior partner at Freshfields, and Paul Marshall, the multimillionaire founder of the Marshall Wace hedge fund.

The Red Knights believe the club is worth about £1 billion, while the Glazers’ valuation — which they insist does not equate to an asking price — is approximately £1.2 billion.

David Gill, the United chief executive, dismissed the Red Knights out of hand this week, describing their takeover plan as unworkable.

But anger at the massive debts run up by the Glazers that has rippled through the Old Trafford stands is now making waves in boardrooms as it appears that leading investors as well as fans, who have been hit by big increases in ticket prices, are rallying behind the Red Knights.

The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST), which is campaigning to oust the Glazers, said last night that membership was on target for 110,000 — more than doubling in a day since the Red Knights’ plan emerged on Tuesday.

Duncan Drasdo, the chief executive of MUST, said: “The growth rate is absolutely phenomenal. MUST now has more campaign members than the official Manchester United membership scheme.”

There is still a long way to go, though. According to Gill, the Glazers are adamant they will not sell one of the most prized assets in world sport, while O’Neill, who has been given leave by Goldman Sachs to pursue the bid, and his group still have to prove that they have the cash to wrest control from United’s American owners — though they may be able to do so by the end of today.

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i wonder if its just paper talk

Must be tough running a club with 60 investors. Each will have their own views and ideas on running it. Too many imo.

Originally Posted by koppas

Must be tough running a club with 60 investors. Each will have their own views and ideas on running it. Too many imo.

Unlike when we struggled as a PLC.

Originally Posted by HolyMackrelDoodleBonkon

Unlike when we struggled as a PLC.

There wasn't sixty investors with very large stakes though, was there?

Originally Posted by koppas

Must be tough running a club with 60 investors. Each will have their own views and ideas on running it. Too many imo.

not really there can still be one chief exec (appointed or elected) who appoints the management team and answers to a board of trustees or similar. investors will expect a return of some form, not active control.

so 60 hard headed multimillionaire businessmen are going to invest say £15 mill each and NOT come up with a workable management structure - what bollox !


seems to work at every other business in the known universe

Realistically, for someone like me who knows very little, what percentage chance is there of this happening?

Read a few reports this afternoon claiming the Red Knights "won't be held to ransom".

MOTWYW.

Originally Posted by Gorilla Monsoon

Realistically, for someone like me who knows very little, what percentage chance is there of this happening?

there has been some buying up of united bonds, which is the clearest indication that rumours of a possible buyout are serious.

the best take on it is from andy green's blog

http://andersred.blogspot.com/


take a look at "How to make money from leveraged buyouts 101" and "Ticking up" (a bit down the page).


here's the same fella on sky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHH6O3_soFs

Originally Posted by Child of Darkness

so 60 hard headed multimillionaire businessmen are going to invest say £15 mill each and NOT come up with a workable management structure - what bollox !


seems to work at every other business in the known universe

does it? doesn't seem to have worked at too many of United's rivals all that well over the past 19 years