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Manchester United’s majority shareholders, the Glaser family, are in a catch-22 situation as they consider whether to sell their control of the club.
Having reached the limit of their credit line, the family hired the consulting firm Rain Group to bid for the sale of all or part of the club.
The family is said to want between $5.5 billion and $6 billion for a full sale of United.
However, the intent to sell and the news of the team’s success on the pitch under Eric Ten Hag sent the stock price skyrocketing, increasing the true value of the company.
Rumor has it that at least two of the Glaser brothers, Joel and Avram, never intended to sell and were using the bidding process as a fishing expedition to attract investors to buy the brothers and retain control of the club. Rumors are circulating that
The option seemed to take a big step this week when Elliott Investment Management took its hat off to the ring and offered to fund someone else’s investment in the club, including the Glazers themselves. .
Unfortunately for Glazers, however, the stock plummeted again with reports that they may have a way to maintain control.
According to The Mirror, “The bid for the club has pushed United’s share price to a 52-week high of $27.03. It closed at the lowest price in nearly two weeks.”
Therefore, the American heavyweights are caught in the rift stick.
One from Qatari investor Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jaber Al Thani and one from Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s petrochemical giant INEOS.
Sheikh Jassim’s bid is said to be $4.5 billion, while Ratcliffe’s bid is said to be $4 billion.
If Glazers fuss about maintaining control to push prices higher, it has the opposite effect, as the market loses confidence the moment it thinks they will maintain control.
And if their families aren’t bluffing, they know millions of people will be wiped of the club’s values as soon as they make their decision to stay in the club public.
For United fans desperate to get rid of the club, even at the expense of their seen as parasite owners, the market reaction to the possibility of them staying has been very welcome, and one eventual once again. Squeeze the breadwinner and out of Dodge City.