Manchester United Plc's (NYSE:MANU) curiously timed ‘world record’ kit deal with Adidas has evidently underwhelmed investors in New York and sparked fresh speculation about what it potentially means for its protracted takeover process.
With no fanfare the club announced, in less than 60 words, to investors that it had signed a new 10-year extension to its kit and apparel deal with Adidas on improved terms.
The club is currently on a pre-season and commercial promotions tour of the United States and hadn’t, at the time of writing, even mustered a social media post to laud the renewed partnership.
This decidedly low-key and arguably premature – the existing deal doesn’t expire until the end of the 2024/25 season – adds further curiosity around the club’s future.
Over the weekend, Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol said that an update on the takeover could come later this week, after club staff return to the UK from tour.
Solhekol, meanwhile, said cautioned that the Glazer family could remain “involved at least in some capacity” with the club.
So, what does the Adidas deal tell us about the sale process?
Frankly, it could be a simple bit of admin organised internally by club and be totally unrelated to the sales process.
It could, however, be an opportunistic piece of window dressing as the Glazer family try to argue the upside to the clubs valuation – amid reports that neither set of bids from INEOS nor Sheikh Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani met the American owners ‘six billion’ asking price.
Perhaps, at the same time, it’s a breadcrumb of positive PR designed to signal the club's financial security and appease shareholders should the Glazer family opted against a sale and choose to retain control of the club.
For context, Manchester United's New York listed shares are up more than 100% in the past year driven exclusively by speculative trading, anticipating a premium-priced takeover, yet Wall Street interest has more recently waned, with the stock down nearly 8% in the past month as the uncertainty builds with the sale process seemingly grinding to a halt.
At US$22.51 per share, Manchester United shares value the club at US$3.6 billion – significantly below the reported deal values under consideration by the majority shareholders in the Glazer family.