Billionaire increases stake in Man Utd

AMERICAN football tycoon Malcolm Glazer has increased his stake in Manchester United, prompting increased speculation of an imminent takeover.

Mr Glazer, who owns Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has steadily increased his stake in the Barclaycard Premiership champions recently, while Irish racing duo John Magnier and JP McManus have also upped their involvement.

Mr Glazer now owns over 37 million shares in Manchester United Plc, which gives him a 14.31% stake.

Meanwhile, Manchester United also extended a sponsorship accord with Vodafone Group Plc, the world’s biggest cellular carrier, Man Utd chief executive David Gill said.

Manchester United shares have more than doubled this year as investors raised their stakes. The largest shareholder, McManus and Magnier’s investment company Cubic Expression, last month boosted its holding to 23%. Mr Gill met Mr Glazer last week to discuss his investment.

“It was a constructive dialogue,” he said. “We told them about our plans for the future and they clearly were interested in those, and they merely said that they viewed Manchester United as a good investment.”

Speculation that teams including United may receive bids increased since Roman Abramovich, Russia’s second-richest man, paid £59.3m in July for London’s Chelsea Village Plc.

Shares of Manchester United rose to their highest in more than three years on Friday after the Guardian newspaper said Commerzbank AG bought a 6% stake on behalf of an unidentified client.

About 25 million shares were bought and sold Friday, 25 times the daily average over the past three months. The shares today rose 0.4% to 264 pence as of 10am in London, valuing the company at about £686m ($1.18 billion).

Glazer, 75, is president and chief executive officer of First Allied Corp, a holding company for his business interests, which include real estate, banking, natural gas, oil production, food service equipment and food packaging.

Listed by Forbes as the 244th richest American in 2003 with a net worth of $1 billion, Glazer bought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for $192m in 1995.

The Vodafone agreement, which runs from June 1, is worth £36m, 20% more than the previous deal, Mr Gill said.