Such an announcement has excited the market Manchester United are for sale has enabled a group of American investors to make a tidy profit on their shares but, for once, they have nothing to do with the club’s owners, the Glazer family.
Ariel Investments sold about three million shares of Manchester United in the last quarter of 2022, according to a filing published by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
The filing did not reveal the price or exact timing of these sales, but shares in the New York Stock Exchange-listed club jumped in value after the Glazers announced they were “initiating a process to explore strategic options … including new investment in the club, a sale, or other company involvement.” transactions.
That was on November 22, when the club’s share price was around $13 (£10.74). At the end of trading that day, each share was worth about $15 and it passed $20 the next day. Manchester United shares closed 2022 at $23 (£19.00), more than double their value when they hit a low of $10.41 last summer.
News that the Glazers were actively seeking offers for the club they controversially bought in 2005 also led to a big increase in the number of shares traded on the day.
More than a quarter of Manchester United’s shares changed hands on November 21, making for another humdrum day of boring stock. But the prospect of an end to Glazer’s 17-year reign at Old Trafford saw 6 million shares traded on November 22 and a remarkable 35 million on November 25, the day after the market closed for Thanksgiving.
It is now clear that a large number of those shares were once held by Chicago-based investment company Ariel Investments, which was Manchester United’s largest single shareholder until it was sold. That honor goes back to London-based firm Lindsay Train.
By selling more than a quarter of the more than 11 million Manchester United shares outstanding at the end of September, Ariel made a nice profit on the $100 million he spent on United shares in 2021, when the share price was at $15-. 16 ranges.
In fact, Ariel’s position as United’s largest single institutional investor has been booked Cristiano RonaldoA 2021 return to the club – another event which boosted the club’s share price – and the Portuguese star’s contract was terminated by United on the day the club was effectively put up for sale.
However, that means Ariel co-chief executives John Rodgers and Melody Hobson are either Ronaldo fans voting with their feet, or they don’t know something the rest of us don’t about a potential sale to United. It is very likely that they saw the current good health of the share price as an opportunity to take some easy profits.
Neither Ariel nor Manchester United have responded to requests for comment.
In terms of the process since the Glazers started in November, there is nothing significant to report. The Glazers hired Wren, a merchant bank headquartered in New York, to oversee the search. He is understood to have been given the job after successfully running a competitive auction for Rhine Chelsea last year
The United process, however, was always going to burn more slowly than that drama, as Chelsea had to sell early because their former boss Roman Abramovich was placed on the British and European sanctions list following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is the only person or group to publicly announce an interest in buying Manchester United in recent months, although he has made it clear he disagrees with Glazer’s view that England’s most successful club is worth more than double. A consortium led by Todd Bohly paid £2.5 billion for Chelsea.
Apart from Ratcliffe, there has been some speculation about bids from the Middle East. For example, earlier this week it emerged that Qatar Sports Investments, the sovereign wealth fund that owns Paris Saint-Germain, is seeking a minority stake. Premier League club. Some preliminary discussions have already taken place with QSI Tottenham Hotspur But he is not understood to have spoken to either Rennes or Manchester United.
If not them, or someone like them, many industry observers believe the only potential buyers would be another wealthy American family, such as the Glazers, or an American private-equity syndicate, such as Boehly’s group in Chelsea.
but with Everton, Liverpool And, it seems, Spurs are now in the market too – not to mention dozens of clubs across Europe – and with the world economy in shambles, it’s entirely possible the Glazers won’t find anyone who agrees with their valuation of United.
And it is the six children of Malcolm Glazer, who bought United for £790million in 2005, who control the club through Class B shares which are solely owned by them. These golden tickets carry 10 times the voting rights of Class A held by Ariel, Lindsay Train and all other shareholders.
The family’s majority stake in United also means they have taken the lion’s share of £155m in dividend payments made by the club since 2015, although the Glazers announced last month they were suspending them for the time being.
That, of course, could be another factor in Ariel’s decision to reduce its stake in the club, although the fact it still owns 8 million United shares suggests it is still on board with Erik ten Haag’s efforts to restore United to their perch. A common perception is that premium sports franchises are great long-term investments.
At the time of writing, Manchester United’s share price is less than $23 (£19), which gives the company a market capitalization – the combined value of all its shares – of $3.7bn (£3bn) and an enterprise value – equity plus. Debt – of $4.6 billion (£3.8 billion).
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