10 May 2023 12:29:34
Reading a few reports in various outlets which all seem to have come from a sports finance expert called Dan Plumley, can't vouch for him as never heard of him and it's all opinion, but he's saying that Sheikh Jassim is likely the preferred bidder, that a 100% takeover will likely win out and the takeover is on course to be ready for the summer transfer window. Make of that what you will but is certainly my hope and best case scenario. Hoping there is news soon on this process.

1.) 10 May 2023
10 May 2023 18:04:23
no one has a clue, not one of them.95% guesswork. its a 2 horse race so not that hard to hedge their bets until they hear something concrete.

2.) 10 May 2023
10 May 2023 20:04:05
It seems that people within the Raine group (who have been hired by the Glazers to facilitate the sale) feel that the offer from Saudi Arabia is the strongest/ will be the strongest bid. Which is why leaks are coming from the financial sector (supposedly) .

However, ultimately any offers will be put forward to the Glazers to choose themselves. So unless you have an inside source that knows what the 6 Glazer children are thinking then it's all really just speculation designed to sell papers and get clicks.

3.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 03:05:46
I've just been reading some click bait that said Jim Radcliffes offer is the preferred option.

I honestly thought I didn't have an opinion and that whoever owns us would be better than currently, but I felt an overwhelming sense of anger and frustration that we would still be stuck with the Glazers in some form.

Perhaps I do have a preference after all.

#GLAZERSOUT.

4.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 06:52:27
So who does everyone what as owners?

A few things concern me about each offer, I would like to know who the real money is behind the Jassim bid. It clearly isn't is own money as his family's personal wealth is only arouns £2bn. The Qatar state said it isn't theirs and it is a consortium of private investors, so who are those investors?

I'm also not sure about Sir Jim, there is the obvious issue of the Glazers involvement and continued debt, plus his ownership of Nice hasn't exactly been smooth sailing. He said he bought Nice to learn how to run a club, it looks like he needs more practice before taking on the likes of United.

5.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 08:02:34
Grim, I'd need a crystal ball to tell you who my preferred option is. I just want whoever will be best for the club long term. Personally I don't know enough about the bidder's, or what their plans/ intentions are to have an informed opinion on who I think would be better.

6.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 08:20:15
Looks like it's sir Jim about to be confirmed.

7.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 09:53:17
Personally want Jassim and Glazers gone and funds that facilitate the changes needed to the stadium, training complex, playing staff and community, I don’t see a lot of info on Sir Jim’s bid but he needs to clear debt not continue it, needs to do all ten things outlined above that Jassim has promised, can he do all that?

8.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 10:05:04
If reports are to be believed then it seems like the Glazers are not ready to let go of the dividends atleast for the next 3 years.

9.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 11:56:22
The thing is, The Sun led with the Plumley opinion on Jassim being the preferred bidder, then a day later they contradicted that by stating that Sir Jim is the preferred bidder.

I wouldn't believe a rag like that, but I do believe that the parasites will still want to stick around to feed their pockets.

10.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 11:57:47
GRIM

He is borrowing a lot of it as is SJR. potato potato as they say. More relevant who runs the club better.

11.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 11:59:05
Perfect scenario for them isn’t it. Get a huge injection of cash and get to continue leeching off the club for another 3 years.

12.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 12:29:09
The glazers want Jim to takeover to suit themselves. It's that simple.

13.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 12:49:34
Do they leahy?

I think the majority of the glazers want out and will push Qatar to make the biggest bid.

14.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 12:54:41
Rats ?.

15.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 15:47:59
How much will they get in dividends over the three years? Is it worth them sticking around for however much the 20% will get them, especially if they can be forcibly bought out after three years? Surely it would be better to get a few million extra from someone wanting to buy the club outright, if they can, and get the money up front rather than spread it out for 3 years.

I don’t know the ins and outs of it all, but it just seems strange to keep a little bit of the club for a few more years and get a few million in dividends when they could get rid of the lot and have the money now. Maybe they just want Jassim to add a bit extra to his bid, who knows.

16.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 16:32:55
Brendon - I agree mate I’ve tried to do the math but can’t make it add up.

I don’t know why they’d want to hang around especially if they are not involved in the decision making process anymore. They don’t care about the Club and very rarely attend the games so it’s not like they are emotionally involved.

Surely it can only be financially motivated and if they accept the SJR proposal it will be because it’s somehow better financially for them to do so.

{Ed002's Note - The problem is the type of shares they hold.}

17.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 18:50:54
All of this is speculation but from what I've heard the issue is that four of the Glazer siblings want nothing to do with the club and they want to cash out sail off into the sunset.

However, Joel and Avram have both shown more of an interest in the club and both believe that in a few years time that the club club be worth substantially more (possibly based on either the club returning to winning ways, or the launching of a super league or both) .

They are the ones who are apparently pushing the 6-7bn valuation (despite there being absolutely no logical way to come to that valuation or even close by any typical valuation method) . They also feel that in a few years time the club could be worth north of 10bn.

So they are only prepared to sell their shares for an over inflated price as they are convinced that those shares will be worth significantly more in a few years time.

That has supposedly lead to the situation where SJR has offered to effectively buy the other siblings out and for Joel and Avram to retain their shares. Whether that will be with an obligation to buy them out after a specific time or not who knows.

But the jist of it is so that Joel and Avram can potentially make more money by just clinging on for a few more years.

Of course all of this is speculation, but it seems to tie in with what has been said for years, along with things like Joel and Avram being the only ones to be seen at Old Trafford since the passing of their dad Malcolm.

Ultimately if Joel and Avram don't want to sell unless they get the value they want for their shares then maybe the offer from SJR is the only way to wrest control away from them for now.

18.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 19:03:53
Shappy

There is no acceptable solution that includes Glazer influence at the club. I would rather see the club relegated to get them out. Making out the idea the Sunny Jim is actually good to get part solution is frankly nonsense. No to any Glazer influence, no to Ratcliffe.

19.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 19:18:02
Ratcliffe is a no no. Like Ridsdale and Leeds is where we will be heading. Then the quatars buy Leeds or Liverpool and we become laughing stock. No to Jim. No to glazers.
Glazers out full stop.

20.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 19:40:19
Well said Leahy.

21.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 20:13:35
Unfortunately we have zero control over any of it, apart from airing our views on here etc. What will be will be, and we have to hope that whatever happens it leads us to a much better place than we have been for over a decade.

Time will tell.

22.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 20:38:27
Why Brendan, why do we have 0 control? Where are all the protest marches now, all Glazers/ Ratcliffe out posters. We have done it before.

23.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 22:25:37
UA, we have zero control because the Glazers don’t give a sh*t about marches or anything else. They are thousands of miles away in Florida and have been making decent money. How long have fans been kicking up a fuss? They still own the club, and may continue to do so going forward. It is only because some of the family members want more money that they are even considering it, without that nothing would change, green and gold or not.

Do you see more protests if SJR completes a deal? Some won’t be 100% happy but I don’t see it continuing, unless a few years down the line things are no better, the club is still repaying the debt, the glazers still have a piece of the club etc.

Whoever buys the club there will be people who are unhappy for different reasons, but I don’t see the protest marches etc continuing.

24.) 11 May 2023
11 May 2023 19:41:06
Ed002 - Ok thank you. I’m I right in thinking that the Glazers hold all the voting rights on the shares floated on the New York Stock Exchange which equates to around 29% of the Club so even if SJR bought over 50% the Glazers would still have influence as they have the voting rights on the shares plus whatever they’re left with?!

{Ed002's Note - No that is not the issue.}

25.) 12 May 2023
11 May 2023 23:48:05
Class A and class B voting shares. Currently the glazers have all the best shares which gives them over 90% voting control at the club, even though they own much less percentage share value of total shares.

Glazers are right btw, man utd could be worth 10bn in a few years, but ONLY IF THE LEECHES ARE BOUGHT OUT 100%. If the leeches stay, we will be pawning the office fish tank to pay Burnley for more loan installments!

26.) 12 May 2023
12 May 2023 00:26:41
Class B shares have 10 times the voting rights of Class A shares. The Glazer siblings own all the Class B shares.

When the Glazers launched on the NYSE they protected themselves by inserting a mechanism that essentially stopped anyone other than family members from owning Class B shares.

If Class B shares are sold they automatically convert to Class A shares with 10 times less voting rights, meaning if any of the Glazers siblings sold their shares they would automatically convert to the much less powerful Class A shares. Only Class A shares are traded on the market.

Therefore if SJR wants control he will have to negotiate a new share system with Joel and Avram. If he doesn’t as things stand then they will have more voting rights as they own the much more powerful Class B shares. Without any new negotiation SJR can only buy Class A shares. Therefore if he bought 50% of the Class A shares they would contain significantly less voting rights that Joel and Avrams 20% of Class B shares, which have 10 times the voting rights of Class A shares don’t forget.

This may explain why some of the Glazer siblings haven’t sold off any of their shares even though they seemingly went out as the clause converting them to Class A shares makes them much less appealing as they don’t contain the voting rights. They would benefit more from a full sale with the control carried through rather than on the market.

Qatar would buy all shares Class A and Class B giving them full control.

A value of £5b would estimate the price of each share at around $32.5. Shares are currently trading at around $20; valuing the Club at much less than the £5b reportedly offered by Qatar and explains why some of the Glazer siblings want a full sale.

So I’m summary if SJR wants control he’ll have to negotiate a new share system with Joel and Avram.

Maybe that explains the situation a bit better.

27.) 12 May 2023
12 May 2023 00:50:06
Is it

There are class a shares and class b shares, class a shares any of us could go out and invest and buy class a shares.

Class b shares are all owned by the glazers and have 10 times the voting rights of the class a shares.

The glazers own roughly 69% of the shares but this equates to like 90 odd % of the voting rights of the club

Should any individual glazer sell their shares they would revert to class a shares and have 10x less voting rights of any glazer owned shares.

This means SJR will need to buy the glazers class b shares effectively the controlling shares without them losing voting power which I imagine isn't that difficult and the lawyers can sort it.

I guess the question becomes what minority share do the glazers get to keep (it will be small enough that SJR and ineos are in control) and what kind of share would they be? And what will they be when sold? (I imagine ineos/ SJR would have an option to buy them in X years or should the glazers choose to sell)

I'm not getting involved with the nonsense name calling of SJR because it's frankly embarrassing if his majority bid is excepted it means the values for full sale weren't enough or that they never really wanted that so better no glazer control with eventual glazers gone that shoot ourselves in the foot and have the glazers propped up by someone like Carlyle or one of the other investment firms.

28.) 12 May 2023
11 May 2023 23:20:22
You mind elaborating what exactly the issue is Ed02. Thank you kindly.

{Ed002's Note - I really don't wa nt to get in to it.}