Kevin would not be the first to try and cash in after younger brother Edward put $50m worth of shares up for sale in December 2014, mere months after their father died. But it could make Kevin the first sibling to completely withdraw interest at the Old Trafford club.
The story is reported by The Sun, alleging that Kevin’s recent decision to convert his B class stock in United into A class shares, which are the shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, points to an intended sale as there seems to be no other logical motivation to do so.
Whilst A shares are the ones that are bought and sold, B shares appears to have more control at boardroom level, counting for 10 votes each when a single A shares carries only one vote.
The tabloid suggests that Kevin’s shares are currently worth £270m, while he could also raise up to a further £50m after declaring control of another group of shares via a separate company.
However, despite speculation that three of his brothers and sisters, whose involvement with United is minimal or non-existent, might also be interested in cashing in, Kevin’s potential sale could prevent any of the other Glazer siblings from selling for a while at least.
It is said that a buyer could ask for ‘lock-in’ guarantees that other major shareholders cannot sell for a specified period of time, as further sales in quick succession could see share prices fall.
An in-depth piece on executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward from The Athletic last week explained that Kevin is the only child of Malcolm Glazer with no active involvement in either United or the family’s other major sporting venture, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.
Avram, who is described as ‘rarely seen in Tampa’, is the Glazer with the most active involvement at United and is ‘most often in contact’ with Woodward, along with Joel, who is co-chairman at Old Trafford alongside Avram, and Edward.
Joel and Bryan are described as the ‘most heavily involved in Tampa’, while Darcie, the only sister, is the philanthropic sibling who runs the Bucs’ community and foundation work – she hit headlines over the summer after putting up United share as collateral to secure two loans.
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Source : 90min