Man Utd shares soar after mystery buyer spends €43m

Shares in Manchester United closed at a three-year high today after a German bank confirmed it had bought a stake in the Premier League champions.

Commerzbank said it had made the purchase on behalf of a client, but declined to disclose the identity or the size of the stake involved.

Speculation in the city pointed to Malcolm Glazer, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gridiron club and a 9.7% shareholder in Manchester United.

It is understood the stake purchased by Commerzbank is between 5% and 6% and worth about £30m (€43m), fuelling speculation that Mr Glazer is preparing to mount a takeover of the club.

A Commerzbank spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that Commerzbank Securities has bought Manchester United shares from another bank and we have placed them with a client.”

Shares in Manchester United ended 6% higher, up 14p to 263p – the highest closing price for the stock since October 2000.

The share price has rocketed from 105p at the start of this year and the club is now valued at £686m (€985m).

Shares have responded to heightened takeover speculation after a number of key players such as racehorse owner JP McManus began building up stakes in the club.

Mr McManus and racing tycoon John Magnier increased their holding in Manchester United from 6.77% to 10.37% in September.

They then raised their stake to more than 23% after buying out shareholder BSkyB in October, but have stated they are not interested in taking over the club.