Glazer seizes control and aims for 90% ownership

Ian Guider

Mr Glazer, who held 74.8% of the club last week after buying the stake held by the Irish duo of JP McManus and John Magnier, bought more shares yesterday morning, pushing past the 75% level giving him complete control of United. It emerged last night that Mr Glazer holds 75.7% of United and is now free to have the club delisted from the London Stock Exchange.

This will allow him to lump the 780 million he is borrowing from a consortium of banks to pay for the takeover onto United’s books.

The next goal for the 78-year-old American is to reach 90% ownership of the club.

If he exceeds that figure, under company law he can get a compulsory purchase order to compel the remaining investors to sell their shares to him whether they want to or not.

If he fails to achieve that target, the remaining shareholders would be entitled to remain as minority owners, but with next to no say in the running of the company. They would only be able to receive copies of the club’s accounts and the right to attend annual meetings.

The Glazer camp has warned that if he does end up with a rump of hardcore investors, the generous dividend payment they receive twice a year could be cut.

Under Mr Glazer it will be saddled with a 780 million in debt and annual interest payment of at least 50m. Around half of the debt is secured against United’s assets, including the Old Trafford stadium. The remaining cash for the takeover is coming out of from Mr Glazer’s own pockets.

United floated on the London stock market in 1991 and almost 40,000 fans bought shares. While they held less than 20% of the shares, they have been the only group not to support Mr Glazer, who owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers American football team.

As of yesterday, Mr Glazer was free to apply to have Manchester United removed from the official list of the stock exchange, a process that will take around three weeks.

Tomorrow, the offer document is expected to be posted to the shareholders who have yet to accept the offer. In it, for the first time, will be Mr Glazer’s view of the club, what he expects to achieve and how he will do it.

Richard Hunter, analyst with Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said: “The issue now is about what the man’s vision is. “There are questions around repaying the debt and making Manchester United a much bigger brand than it is now. This is a shrewd businessman who has probably got something up his sleeve.”

With most of the last investors opting for the Glazer offer last week and yesterday, it could be some weeks before the American knows if he has reached the critical 90% mark.

He will go head-to-heard with Shareholders United, whose members own around 5% of the club, to get the remaining shares. Shareholders United are working on a plan with Nomura bank to get enough shares to block the compulsory acquisition.