Manchester United PLC shares surged a further 21.45% today as attention turned to potential buyers of the Red Devils after the Glazer family hoisted the for sale sign up over the Premier League football club.
The club announced a review yesterday under which it said it “will consider all strategic alternatives, including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company.”
The Glazers' 17-year ownership has seen fortunes decline on the pitch, but gain off it, as the global appeal of the 20 times league champions continued to generate huge sponsorship deals and commercial revenues.
But fan disquiet and the failed attempt to launch a European Super League may have prompted them to call time on their investment.
READ: Man United sale: why now and how is it worth more than Liverpool and Chelsea?
Potential suitors will need deep pockets, with reports suggesting they are looking for as much as £8 billion for the club which would be a world record sum for a sports team.
Possible buyers include Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the UK’s richest person with an estimated £12bn fortune, who lost out against Todd Boehly in the battle to buy Chelsea.
Just last month he revealed he had met the Glazer family to discuss buying the club but said “they don’t want to sell it.”
Ratcliffe, 70, who was born in Oldham, greater Manchester, told a Financial Times Live event: “I’m a lifelong Manchester United fan. I was there in 1999 for the most remarkable match of all time in Barcelona. So, you know, the club is deeply etched in my mind.”
Jim O’Neill, the former Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) chief economist who led the “Red Knights” consortium of fans attempting to buy the club from the Glazer in 2010, said on Wednesday that he was considering forming another consortium to bid for the club but added that the Glazers were seeking too high a price.
An overseas buyer is also possible. When US investment bank, Raine Group, sold Chelsea they said “we had people from six out of the seven continents, all the continents besides Antarctica, looking to buy the club.”
Whether that will include Elon Musk remains to be seen. He famously tweeted “Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome” although he later insisted he was joking. He also may have enough on his plate for now.
Other potential suitors include Dubai International Capital, the investment arm of Dubai’s sovereign wealth fund, which almost bought Liverpool in 2007 and US-based Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment.
Contact Jeremy at jeremy@proactiveinvestors.com