MailOnline: Glazers are in exclusive talks to sell a minority stake in Manchester United to American private equity firm Apollo
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Protest needs to go off big time then
Find this very unsettling.
They sure know how to pick'em...
Whilst I will refrain from painting an entire company based on the actions of a few individuals, this is not pretty.
Beyond that I can't imagine an American private equity firm taking a stake in our club without expecting a return on investment or dividends...
Do us fans even have a say on how this transpires?
Whilst I will refrain from painting an entire company based on the actions of a few individuals, this is not pretty.
Beyond that I can't imagine an American private equity firm taking a stake in our club without expecting a return on investment or dividends...
Do us fans even have a say on how this transpires?
These guys would change nothing, jsut as bad as Glazers and its not clear any money goes into the club. We need to increase the protests, their resolve is crumbling.
Glazers are slowing going, great!
They are being replaced by a peado. Shit.
They are being replaced by a peado. Shit.
Even when they sell stake the Glazers feck up. Absolutely useless owners.
It just gets worse every day. This cannot be allowed to happen. Are the government and the media okay with this?
These clowns are going to dilute the entire stake before a potential take over happens and saddle a new owner with a bunch of minority voices.
Just incase some supporters had any doubts if Glazers cared alittle about the club this can confirm that they really dont fecking rats.
About 25 years ago I worked for a small courier company for a little while and the boss was a liverpool fan. Bitter about their lack of titles in recent years he said something along the lines of "I hope you get bought by some idiot Americans who aint got a clue about football and gets you relegated!" I said it would never happen obviously. Their messy situation with American owners in the following years made me laugh .... but they got out of it. Will we?
Not good. They’ll have a 4-5 year view on the club (basically optimise for value and sell to someone else later on). Def not a strategic long-term owner. Also, they have a long history of screwing their business partners in all sorts of creative ways… I work at a competitor firm and have seen it first hand. We decline working on any Apollo-related deals.
Sounds like someone the parasites would be in business with.
The british governement must have something they can do to protect this club? Even Chelsea was mentioned as a “culturally important institution”.
there are provisions like drag-along clauses and wotnot for these situations
We would be in a worse position. This only puts money in the Glazers pockets and the debt would still be there. I hope this is bollocks.
It's not exactly great, but how is it worse? At a first glance, nothing would change
Darker times ahead
what a horrible timeline
what a horrible timeline
Aren’t private equity firms even less involved and all about dividends?
I would assume so, but since we're talking about a minority stake, I'm not sure their philosophy matters all that much
Apollo are already disabling comments on their Twitter posts after the inevitable happened
Still - even if only a minority stake - should someone eventually want to buy the club, they’d have to buy out the Glazers plus the private equity firm, no? So this could potentially raise the cost of the club for prospector buyers substantially thus ruling many out.
I think that poster’s reasoning is Glazers > Glazers + Equity firm
From one American rat to another. No thanks.
I'd be surprised if Apollo would pass the FA fit and proper test.
From the fantasy of de Jong to the reality of failure to even get Rabiot, then from Jim Radcliffe to more vulture capitalists. This club sure knows how to disappoint.
If MBS did, everyone will
I thought with MBS, PIF needed to prove and legally document that he wouldn't be on any boards or have zero involvement with the club?
Apollo, being a PE firm, and with the association with Epstein - I doubt FA will allow it.
I could see it starting off as a minority and eventually becoming a majority. We'd go from being owned by a bunch of bastards to a faceless corporation run by a bunch of bastards. They would have no problem ripping us apart to sell off.
It's said that clubs are usually a vanity project for the Uber rich. At the very least it's something prestigious and challenging for them to get involved with. What do Apollo gain from getting involved with us other than access to assets they can sell off?
The Glazers need someone who can sell off assets for their full value, but they're so useless they can't do it themselves. Who better than a private equity firm? But before they do it they want a piece of the action as well, so they strike a deal with the Gnome family to buy a portion of the business which in turn means they'll also profit from the fire sale. I genuinely can't think of any other reason why the Glazers would hold exclusive talks with this particular company.
Come on, Jim...
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Well, after Burnley were bought via a LBO last season, the FA have said that they're putting a stop to it, and for owners and the transaction to be 'fit and proper'. Whether they go through with it is another question...Has anyone ever failed this test?
It will be interesting to see what price the minority interest is sold for - should give a rough idea of what the Glazer's value the club at.
I think you're only assessed if you are acquiring 30%+ of the shares, so the test would not be applied if the Glazers sold, say, 25% of the club.
There’s only one thing that matters to PE funds, and that’s return on investment. Meaning they will have to either take out dividends or increase the value of the club and sell again in 3-5 years (or both).
This. It’ll become even worse at the club.
The Bloomberg article, quoting people "familiar with the matter" said the Glazers value the club at £5 billion ($6 billion).
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This isn't good at all.
Because then we have two parties who only wish to take dividends and not put additional funds to the club. Twice as much effort and negotiations when buyers come in.
It’s much worse than what we currently have to deal with.
On the plus side, they should wrestle some of the control away from the incompetent Glazer siblings, in favour of people who actually know how to run a business. This sale is also the only way we ever realistically see a redeveloped OT.
As you say, there is lots of potential downside, though.
Not convinced this is the case, getting the majority of the club will be the same struggle as now. After the majority is acquired, the rest should be pretty straight forward