WHO WANTS A BILLIONAIRE?

Last updated : 14 September 2003 By Editor

This was underlined by an independent (and very reliable) source at the match YESTERDAY who said to us that Kenyon and Watkins had meetings with a Russian (maybe not Abramovich) and a South American in the summer and also met Coolmore in March.

This from today's Observer:

Three overseas billionaires are poised to launch £600 million bids to buy Manchester United, The Observer can reveal.

The trio, acting independently, have each sought expert City advice about how much the club would cost, whether the shareholders would sell and how they could gain control.

They are said to be 'around as rich if not richer' than Roman Abramovich, the Russian oil and airline magnate who bought Chelsea for £150m in July. None has yet been identified, but The Observer understands that one is a Russian oligarch, like Abramovich, another is a Middle Eastern billionaire and the third is European.

There is speculation that the latter may be the Dutch TV entrepreneur John de Mol, who invented Big Brother and already has a 3.4 per cent share in United. He is hugely wealthy after selling Endemol, the production company he founded in 1979 for £3.3bn in 2000.

In recent months a number of different individuals or consortiums have explored the possibility of buying the Premiership champions, who made a £32m profit last year. Several have decided not to act, but these three remain 'seriously interested'. The trio's inquiries into the viability of taking over have been confirmed to The Observer by senior United figures, some of whom would welcome such a move

Their interest has hardened after being told that the cost would be around £600m, that many of the club's existing biggest shareholders would sell if the price was right, and that United could be even more profitable.

'The six biggest shareholders control 45 per cent of the club between them, and the word in the City is that many of them would sell,' a financial expert said.

Those thought willing to sell include Irish horse racing tycoons John Magnier and ally J.P. McManus, whose 11.4 per cent joint stake makes them the club's largest single shareholders, their close associate Dermot Desmond, who has nearly 2 per cent and already controls Celtic football club in Glasgow, and Harry Dobson, a Scottish mining multi-millionaire, who owns 6.5 per cent.

And from the same paper but a differeent article:

Speculation has been rife for two years that someone would soon mount a takeover bid. When Magnier and his ally J.P. McManus took a stake in 2001, they initially were thought to be interested in gaining control, probably as part of a coalition of like-minded shareholders. But although they have since increased their joint take to 11.4 per cent, and are now the club's single biggest shareholder, they are understood to be willing to sell - as long as the price is high enough for them to make a profit. Their Cubic Expression company holds the 11.4 per cent.

The next largest shareholders are the broadcaster BSkyB, which has 10 per cent, Mountbarrow Investments (6.5), Lansdowne Partners (6), UBS Global Asset Management (5.4) and Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management (5.3). City sources say most, but perhaps not Sky, would facilitate a change of ownership by selling their stakes. Some have already indicated their willingness, which has encouraged the overseas suitors.

United's current board, whose chairman is Centrica boss Roy Gardner, is becoming the target of increasing behind-the-scenes criticism from shareholders and club figures who believe they have allowed tens of millions of pounds of the club's money to be wasted buying players such as £28m Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, who was recently sold at a £13m loss, and £7.5m striker Diego Forlan. They are also under fire for not getting enough money when Beckham moved to Real Madrid for £25m and for allowing Ferguson to wield too much influence.

And this from Reuters:

Three unidentified billionaires have made separate inquiries into bidding for English soccer premier league champions Manchester United

MNU.L>, the Observer newspaper said, citing unnamed senior club figures.

But United said it had had no takeover approaches.

"We have had no approaches and the story is pure speculation," United spokesman Paddy Harverson told Reuters on Saturday.

The front-page report said the Russian, European and Middle Eastern entrepreneurs each sought advice from bankers on the cost of the club, which has a market capitalisation of 436 million pounds ($695 million), and whether existing shareholders would sell.

United chief executive Peter Kenyon quit last week to take up the same position at big-spending rival Chelsea, which was taken over by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in July.

Shortly after Abramovich's move speculation focussed on United. The Express newspaper at the time said another unnamed Russian multi-billionaire was examining a bid for United.

But soccer analyst Vinay Bedi of London brokerage Brewin Dolphin said in July that any bid for United would be complicated by the club's complex cross shareholdings.

Shares in United closed at 168 pence on Friday.