Manchester United debt reinfinancing deal – July 2006

Fourteen months after US financier Malcolm Glazer and his family took over Manchester United in a hotly contested takeover battle, the club’s improving financial prospects have been reflected in a £660m debt reinfinancing deal. The deal will cut the club’s annual interest bill and strengthen the Glazer family’s grip on the club. A spokesman for the Glazers said the amended structure would continue to provide manager Alex Ferguson with ‘sufficient funds in the transfer market’. The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the package, said the club’s annual interest charge would fall to £62m, compared to £90m under the old deal. It said overall borrowings would rise to £660m from £580m, but the club had halved to £135m the amount they owe in the form of higher risk payment-in-kind notes.