Kieran Maguire, author of The Price of Football, claims anyone wanting to buy Manchester United would have to pay a premium in order for the Glazer family to walk away with more profit.
Life without the Glazers would be a dream – and with a 50+1 share model, which is how momentum built around Sunday’s protest at Old Trafford.
In 2005, Manchester United experienced a debt-ridden takeover for an estimated £790m. The Glazers borrowed approximately £600m from banks, which is a large chunk of the overall sum.
United’s share structure is split into two types: Class A & Class B.
Class A shares are traded on the Stock Exchange and carry one vote each, whereas Class B shares are owned by the Glazer family and carry ten votes each.
“At present the shares are worth about £2.1 billion,” Maguire wrote, as per The Times. “Anyone wanting to take over the club would have to pay a premium to persuade the Glazers to sell, so realistically. A £3 billion offer would be necessary, leaving them with a handsome profit. In addition, lenders may invoke a change of control clause and demand repayment from a new owner, which takes the overall price to about £4 billion.”
The Glazers were closely associated with the attempted murder of English football, with Project Big Picture, and the European Super League. Maguire explains briefly why the Glazers wanted these proposals.
“Both of these plans would have increased the value of United as it involved being able to sell broadcast rights directly to fans, as opposed to using the Premier League and Uefa to negotiate deals on a collective basis.”
This raises the question about who is actually ready to buy Manchester United? Maguire stresses that the share price has underperformed since trading started in New York in 2012, yet the rejection of the European Super League puts a real stain on Glazer plans.
Read more: Opinion: Graeme Souness disrespected Man United fans with ignorant Glazer comments
Problem is there’s no to many out there who would be any better then the Glazer’s who would be willing to invest that kind of money into the club