Proactive Investors - Manchester United Ltd (LON:0Z1Q) shares plummeted late in Tuesday's trading on the New York Stock Exchange amid fresh fears that the takeover process had been “paused” by the club’s American majority owners.
The Glazer family have effectively paused the process, according to a report by The I newspaper, citing ‘a source close to one of the bids'.
Moreover, the story noted that Avram and Joel Glazer - the two Glazer siblings with direct involvement in the running of Manchester United - had been “disappointed” by the valuations of the takeover offers made by from INEOS owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Qatari consortium led by Sheikh Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.
Whilst unconfirmed, due to confidentiality within the sales process, the takeover offers came in below the ‘six billion’ asking price set by the Glazers when they hired New York bankers The Raine Group.
According to The I, the pair of Glazer siblings see potential value catalysts coming ‘around the corner’ such as new TV rights deals, a possible new Champions League format, and growing interest in the Premier League in the United States.
A new curiously timed announcement of Manchester United’s new kit deal with Adidas (ETR:ADSGN), which secured improved terms compared to its preceding 2014/15 partnership, was pointed to by the paper as an example of this ‘uplift’ in Manchester United's commercial value.
Evidently, however, trading action on the New York stock exchange suggests that its takeover talk and speculation that’s underpinned the Manchester United valuation, rather than the growth slides contained within the Glazers' pitch deck.
News that the Glazers have ‘paused’ the process prompted an 8.5% fall in the Manchester United share price which lost US$1.90 per share to trade below US$20.30 – at this level, the club has a market value of around US$3.3 billion.
If the ‘pause’ reports are confirmed, the news would likely also stir up further unrest amongst the Manchester United fanbase which has regularly protested against the unpopular American owners since they acquired the club via leveraged takeover in 2005.