Manchester United debt for sale
SOME of the debt used to finance the takeover of Manchester United is included in a list of £197m ($341m) of buyout loans offered for sale.
The Manchester United debt totals £8.8m ($15.2m), according Bloomberg News.
Sankaty Advisors, which invests in leveraged loans, high-yield bonds and distressed debt, is selling the loans.
It is an investment unit of US-based private equity fund Bain Capital.
The credit crisis is forcing investors to unload assets acquired with borrowed money. As a result, prices of loans rated below investment grade that funded leveraged buyouts in Europe are close to record lows.
The decline in loan prices is threatening funds that were set up to buy the assets.
Manchester United was bought in May 2005 by American businessman Malcolm Glazer for £790m.
The takeover was fiercely opposed by many Manchester United fans because Mr Glazer borrowed most of the money needed to buy the club, saddling it with a debt of £660m and the interest that comes with it – around £60m a year.
Accounts released in May 2008 by Red Football Joint Venture, the company set up when Mr Glazer purchased the club, showed that the club posted a £58m loss in the year ending June 30, 2007.
