Kieran Maguire: Glazers could own minority Man United stake but retain control in ‘strange’ takeover twist
There is a “strange” possibility that Joel and Avram Glazer could own a minority stake in Man United but retain voting control at Old Trafford.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke to Football Insider about the Glazer’s potential plans to stay put in Manchester.
As reported by Manchester Evening News last month (13 February), Avram and Joel Glazer are considering purchasing their sibling’s stakes in United amid takeover talks.
Among the bids for the club, Al Thani, the chairman of one of Qatar’s biggest banks, revealed in his statement that his bid is for 100 per cent of United.
Maguire believes that Joel and Avram are still motivated to remain in control of the Red Devils and could do so even if their siblings sell their shares to third parties.
“Joel and Avram Glazer only need 51 per cent of the votes in order to control Manchester United, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they need 51 per cent of the shares,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“If other members of the Glazer family can be persuaded to sell their shares to third parties, those shares will be converted to the ‘other class’.
“They only carry one vote each as opposed to the 10 votes the Glazer family currently holds.
“So we could have a strange situation at Old Trafford, where Joel and Avram own a minority stake in the club but retain control of the club.
“The motivations for the Glazers are that they believe United is undervalued and they see it not only as a football club but as a franchise.
“They believe it can be exploited financially, which is evident through their involvement in project big picture and hte Super League, which would have concentrated money to the elite.“
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