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Manchester United fans are planning their counter attack against the bid for the club expected from Malcolm Glazer and his family by the end of the week. Their counter attack centres on winning control of 25% of the shares. Glazer cannot transfer the substantial debt he will accrue through his purchase to United until shareholders pass a special resolution. He needs 75% of the votes to do this. Fans at present own somewhere between 10% and 18% of the shares. Advised by major M & A outfit, Weil, Gotshal and Mange Shareholders United are said to be highly confident of pulling off a deal with a leading City institution to lend them the money they need to buy the additional shares, estimated at £50m. They propose to pay the money back by persuading thousands of their 26,500 members to take out relatively small personal loans. They also hope to be able to persuade the club to offer five year season tickets which could be purchased with part of these loans. Even if the Glazer bid fails, it is intended to press ahead with a strategy of buying 25% of the club to stop future bids, but it would then be done over a longer and more manageable timescale. Ingenious as this scheme is, it is difficult to see where sufficient shares would come from. There are some smaller institutional holdings, but would Scottish mining and property magnate Harry Dobson sell to the fans rather than Glazer. As always, the attitude of John Magnier and J P McManus remains crucial to the final outcome of the Glazer bid.
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