The current owners will seek buyers prepared to pay between £6 billion ($9.97 billon) and £8 billion, the Times newspaper reported. Consultancy firm GlobalData posits a US$6 billion ($8.26 billion) price tag, saying a sale could make the club the most expensive sporting institution ever. Even after Man Utd’s New York-listed shares jumped on the prospect of a deal, the market enterprise value is still only US$3.2 billion. A transaction at around twice that level would represent an extremely pricy multiple of more than 50 times the current financial year’s expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.
It’s the news fans of Manchester United have been waiting for — the controlling Glazer family is considering a sale of the storied English football club. The question is whether a new owner would simply put a different face on the same issues that have dogged the Glazer era.
Ever since the late Malcolm Glazer bought the club in 2005 in a leveraged buyout, Man Utd has been mined for dividends and its financial performance aided by the extreme commercialization of the team’s brand internationally. What the fans care about is winning trophies and getting a better stadium. A full or partial sale could mark a fresh start; but the higher the price tag, the more aggressively new owners will have to run the club to justify the outlay.
