Glazer Fights Back After Rebuff - 17/10/2004

Malcolm Glazer has increased his shareholding in Manchester United to 25.5 per cent after Irish horse racing millionaires J P McManus and John Magnier rebuffed his attempt to buy their stake in the club. He spent £45 million buying up shares from City investors including UBS at an average price of 285p. He used Credit Suisse First Boston to buy the shares instead of his retained advisers at JPMorgan in order to cover his tracks. It is understood that the talks with Cubic Expression, the vehicle of the club's biggest shareholders, collapsed because a bid had not been made despite reports that the Glazer camp was prepared to offer 300p a share. A deal of this size would have netted them a £70m profit on their investment. The question is where Glazer might go next to acquire shares. City institutions and others still hold 18.07% of the stock and Scottish mining entrepreneur Harry Dobson has 6.48%. Meanwhile, Keith Harris, chairman of Seymour Pierce, the UK investment bank, has been working on a proposal that would give the club's fans a stake in its ownership and a say in its management. The proposal involves the creation of a private ownership structure that would satisfy the concerns of McManus and Magnier as well as the club's supporters. Talks are expected with supporters' groups but Shareholders United has told fans they 'should be wary' of Mr Harris. Oliver Houston of Shareholders United said 'Keith Harris is the man who tried to flog us BSkyB and was chairman of the Football League during the ITV Digital debacle. Fans are not prepared to be a public relations add-on to someone else's opportunistic desires to take control of Manchester United.'