Done by June: Glazers told to ‘walk away’ as Man United shareholder drops Qatari-Rothschilds reveal
The view among minority shareholders in Man United is that the Glazer family “cannot afford” to own the club and a full sale should go through before June, Football Insider has been told.
Andrew Brown, executive director at East 72, a specialist investment company with shares in Man United, insists that a full takeover has been in the post for a long time and that there has “never been a better moment to sell.”
Brown also believes his view is shared by his former employers Rothschild & Co, the investment bank acting as the Glazers’ financial advisors.
It is claimed that the Qatari bid fronted by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani would almost certainly see minority shareholders offered a premium in order to take United private.
The Qatari consortium are in pole position to buy the club, although recent reports have suggested that the sale process could be delayed because of indecision within the Glazer family.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest person and CEO of petrochemical firm Ineos, has also submitted a bid, while several US-based private equity firms – including Elliott Management – want to finance a deal on behalf of a third party.
The Glazers own approximately 69 per cent of the club, with the rest of the equity traded publicly on the New York Stock Exchange.
None of the bids tabled at this stage have met the Glazers’ £6bn valuation, and it has been suggested that the auction could be aborted altogether if no party is willing to meet their demands.
But Brown, a former Manchester resident and United supporter now based in Sydney, Australia, explained why a rising tide in the Premier League may mean the family have no choice but to cash out.
“The economics of owning a Premier League team are changing,” he told Football Insider.
“The Premier League is going gangbusters. It’s got all the money and it’s killing every other league. That’s why it’s attracting private equity and investors from the Gulf. You have got to have a lot of money.
“The Glazers can’t afford to own Man United. Joel and Avram Glazer are front and centre, but there are four other members of the family. They don’t necessarily operate as one entity.
“They have spent very little on property, plant and equipment – Carrington and Old Trafford. The Glazers aren’t poor but they don’t want to invest.
“The share price has done very little for a long time, but we bought shares in the club before the announcement in November because we could see that the probability of a sale was increasing, and the upsides of a sale are significant.
“There has never been a better moment to sell. So we asked, who would want to buy?
“If private equity owns it, the aim is to sell it for a higher price. They will run it as a killer business. If the Qataris own it, there is no requirement for a financial return. They would own it because they want to be seen to own it.
“If you put aside the ethics, from a strictly financial point of view, if you’re a fan, you want it to be them.
“Everybody [minority shareholders] realises there is a window here. The team is, broadly speaking, on the up. There is the post-World Cup buzz. Premier League TV rights just keep going up and up.
“The Qataris would not want small shareholders like us to share their investments in the club. They want full access to the cash flow. I’m pretty convinced they would offer to buy out smaller shareholders.
“The Rothschilds are advising the Glazers. I used to work for them and I expect them to tell the Glazers that they should walk away. They will give really sound advice.
“I would expect a sale before the end of June.”
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