Red Football statement:
"Red owns or has received valid acceptances of the offer in respect of a total of 259,950,194 Manchester United Shares, representing approximately 98.0% of the issued share capital of Manchester United.
"The offer will remain open for acceptance until further notice."
The Guardian:
Malcolm Glazer will announce today that he has acquired about 98% ownership of Manchester United and that he will force diehard fans to sell the remaining shares to him.
Glazer needed 97.6% to gain compulsorily purchase rights under company law and had 97.3% a fortnight ago. The American billionaire is not obliged to buy the remaining shares but intends to do so.
Stockholders will be given a choice - sell or receive nothing after the club is delisted. Full ownership will mean the Glazer family are not inconvenienced by annual shareholders' meetings or the need to publish audited accounts.