Man Utd record share price fall on market fears Glazers will halt sale
Shares in Manchester United fell by the highest amount since the 2012 float on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) last night.
At market close the shares were trading at $19.56, from Friday’s closing price of $23.64, valuing United at £3.15 billion ($3.5 bn) and finished last night (5 September) at around £2.55 billion ($3.2bn), substantially lower than the valuation of the Glazer family.
The crash in value of more than 20% appears to have been triggered by a story in the Mail on Sunday over the weekend that the Glazers are to call off plans to sell the club this year and wait until the outcome of new TV deals which could yield them a higher sale price of up to £10billion.
The front runners in the long running saga to sell the Old Trafford club include the founder of chemicals giant INEOS Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of the UK’s wealthiest business tycoons, and Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani who have both been engaged in a lengthy process to buy the club from the Glazers.
The Glazers are reported to be holding out for £6 billion ($7.53 bn).
Gary Neville
The Manchester-businessman, Sky Sports pundit and former United player, Gary Neville, launched another of his blistering attacks on the Glazers on Sunday while he was co-commentating on United’s defeat at Arsenal, saying he doesn’t believe the Glazers are actually taking the club off the market.
“I just can’t believe that the report is true. It’s part of the game playing and the manipulating of stories that they have been doing for a long time. I don’t see any way that they can keep hold of the club because they’ve got no money.
“Anyone that has a bit of knowledge of the financial situation at the club will know that it is desperate. They keep putting it down to FFP (Financial Fair Play), they keep saying that they can’t bring players on board and stuff like that.
“They have spent and invested money this summer but they have to bring money in and that will either be through a dilution, some sort of debt on the business – which no one can imagine because of the debt that is already on the business – or they sell. I think the most likely route is that they sell.
“They are trying to bump the price up which is the negotiating tactic of many. They don’t panic, so they stand strong, they don’t rush, they are knowledgeable business people and know that the more they prolong this process they might get an extra quid or two out of it.
“I can’t believe the story to be true because they need money desperately into the club.”
