What happened to the infallible Man Utd IPO?

[jabarl]

Has it really failed again?

http://action.joinmust.org/index.php/blog/entry/united-supporters-call-on-glazers-for-fan-ownership-as-ipo-fails/

Or, for all you non-clicky-linky types:


UNITED SUPPORTERS CALL ON GLAZERS FOR FAN OWNERSHIP AS IPO FAILS

Glazers IPO fails again - Manchester United supporters call for fan ownership through full flotation

A MUST spokesperson said "News reaches us tonight from an impeccable source that the Glazers have been forced to pull the New York flotation of Manchester United due to lack of interest at the valuation they were placing on the club. That combined with the unattractive dual class share structure meant they couldn't find support in the market at the price they wanted. We expect they will blame market conditions although there's been little change in markets since they filed with the SEC."

I wonder what the Man Utd 'La-la-la not listening!!!' Brigades thoughts are?

(NB: would have posted a Financial Times link but sadly you have to be logged in to see their articles, so this will have to do)

[garwyli91]

Oh dear its not much FUN for them at the moment is it?

[varik]

Well , as I was told a few weeks back when I asked a question when the floatation was announced , utd fans are football fans ( apparently ) , not accountants and the flotation ( or lack thereof ) didn't interest them at all .

How the future of the team you support can be so uninteresting is beyond me .

Maybe it'll take liquidation rather than flotation before they become interested .

[darrick34]

They have too much debt..... they banked on moronic Mancs to buy the shares just because it's sexy.... Wearing the red devil shirt is one thing - losing it is another

[chadburne48]

LOL they're deeply in the sh*t...all this spending they're doing in the transfer market is just piling on the debt and if they're not successful in winning trophies, then they're even more deeply in the sh*t as they won't be able to pay the debt. They're going to be the next Rangers or Portsmouth if it continues this way. Not that I'm complaining about it ;)

[tim]

yeah I always said the glazers cominbg in from the start was a BAD idea, all that debt was never gonna pay itself off, and look now, we r in shite deep.....

and the only people whp r richj enough to buy us would be royals or sheiks from arabia...glazers olan was tyo use us as a milking cow, tfialed for them and now we have to pay the price....

I know its not gonna happen, damn the glazers, I knew this would happen damn them

[garwyli91]

Let's get this straight.

Our debt, despite being extremely prohibitive, is not, and for the foreseeable future, will not, result in bankruptcy/liquidation etc.

We have £100m profit margins, but that is eaten into by £50m of interest repayments, and actual loan repayments on top of that take the figure up to about £75m (iirc).

So we are still in a profit of £25m or so at the end of each financial year. This is both amazing, and awful at the same time. Amazing, because despite being the most indebted football club in history, we still manage to post a profit. It's awful, because our enormous "profit" of £100m is whittled down to just £25m because of the parasitic Glazer family.



But let's get to the IPO. That is the question at hand, afterall.

An IPO is, in theory, a great way to raise funds for Manchester United. However, the way the Glazer's want to structure it, is that they basically retain 100% control of the club, despite there being many shareholders.

The dual-class share offer is not uncommon in America (apparently Google runs off of a similar structure), but the fact that the Glazer's have offered NO dividends (yearly pay out to all shareholders), means that there isn't any incentive for investors to sink money in to it.



Where this leaves the Glazers now? The last 2 options you list, are incredibly unlikely. It would take a lot more debt than we currently have, to force us to go down either of those routes.

The first option, however, is looking more and more likely by the day.

Sure, right now, under his £2bn ($3bn~) or so valuation of the club, it wont sell. BUT, if he put the club on the stock market with a 1share=1vote system, at a reasonable valuation of around £1.3bn ($2.1bn) , this is around the valuation Forbes has assigned to the club , then the shares would be snapped up almost instantaneously.

It's said he needs $1bn (£650m) to break even? So if he sells up for around £1.3bn he, and his family, walk away with a profit of £650m. After 7 years of highly contentious (and lets be frank, sh!te) ownership of a business which has such a fluctuating value, £650m is a stunning amount of profit to walk away with.

As you said, it would be highly unlikely for an individual to pay this much, so it would go to the stock market, or as previously rumoured, a group such as the "red knights" who would bid with a collection of money from a small group of actual fans.


Glazer selling is a win-win situation for everybody. Glazer walks away with £650m in his back pocket, the club would finally eradicate it's debt, and the manager would be able to invest the money the club makes, back into the 1st team squad.



I can but live in hope that the Glazer's finally decide to move on, and the mighty Manchester United can return to the top of world football, with financial stability, exactly where it should be right now!

[burt]

As long as United are successful (Finishing Top 4), they should be OK.
I would like to see the outcome when United fail to finish in the Top 4.
That's when I am expecting to see some sort of response from Glazers. Until then they will continue to try experiments to increase revenue.

edit: Wolf: Can you paste a link which says Uefa accepted Eitihad deal with City ? This is in regards to your answer to my earlier reponses to a FPP question.

[shashank]

I'm sure of we get top 4 consistently and a good run in the CL every season then it will help a lot

[wynn]

You're always here for their negatives aren't you?