Twelve days following the filing of the first offers, what was to be the biggest transaction in the history of collective sports seems to have stalled.
If the British press speaks, for the moment, only of a temporization, the maintenance of Glazer at the head of the Red Devils – which seemed totally unthinkable at the announcement of the sale of the club, at the end of November -, is today one hypothesis among others.
Selling a club like Manchester United, whose brand image, history and truly global reach is matched only by behemoths like Real Madrid or Barcelona in football and a handful of American franchises in other sports collectives, however, had to panic the counters.
No doubt encouraged by investment bank Raine, to whom they entrusted the management of the sale, the Glazers had set the bar very high with a valuation close to 7 billion euros.
But the only two known candidates, the president of the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, and the British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, owner of the petrochemical group Ineos, were much more cautious, estimating him around of EUR 5 billion.
Investments and debt
This first cold snap was reflected in the club’s share price.
The action, listed in New York, vegetated around 13 dollars (12.20 EUR) before the announcement of the sale. It had soared to reach 27 dollars (25.32 euros) on February 17 but has since lost 25% of its value to 20.76 USD (19.47 EUR) on Wednesday.
“The share price fluctuations also reflect rumors that the offers on the table do not fully match the price that potential sellers were looking for,” confirmed to AFP Russ Mould, director of investment at broker AJ Bell.
Their expectations seem all the more optimistic as the purchase price would only be a part of what the club would cost to a buyer.
While “a multi-billion pound price may seem quite reasonable given Manchester United’s commercial potential (…) any buyer will no doubt have to invest heavily in an unbalanced squad, an outdated training center and a stadium that needs to be renovated”, warns Russ Mould.
The Red Devils also have 580 million euros in debt and 340 million euros in transfer fees still to be settled.
A high-stakes end to the season
Sky Sports also pointed out on Wednesday that the six members of the Glazer siblings are divided: Avram and Joel, co-presidents of the club, do not rule out staying in charge when Kevin, Edward, Bryan and Darcie want to get out of it completely.
“Speculation is growing that if the earnings recovery under Erik Ten Hag (…) continues, the family may be less inclined to sell,” said AJ Bell’s director of research.
Present at Wembley on Sunday, for the victory in the final of the League Cup, the club’s first trophy for six years, Avram Glazer appeared alongside his team and the great glories of the club like the legendary coach Alex Ferguson.
Third in the league, still in contention in the FA Cup and the Europa League, the Red Devils have an end to the season full of challenges.
The announcement last week of an increase in the price of subscriptions for next season, the first in 11 years, also reinforced doubt: what interest for a departing owner to make such a decision?
This might all just be a tactic to drive up the price, although the Glazers warned early on in the process that there might “be no assurance (that it) will result in a transaction”.
But even if we believe in the sincerity of the attachment to the club of Avram and Joel Glazer, the distrust, not to say the hatred, which they arouse among the supporters would certainly provoke violent reactions in the event of an announcement. of their maintenance.
