US tycoon raises stake in Man United

December 1 , 2003 - Takeover speculation swirling around Manchester United intensified after the club announced that Malcolm Glazer, owner of Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay, had raised his stake in the group again.

United revealed in a statement to the London Stock Exchange that Glazer's stake in Manchester United had risen to 14.3 percent, which represents over 37 million shares.

Shares in the world's richest football club rose 0.8 percent to 265 pence in early trading here in the wake of the announcement.

The stock had already seen strong gains on Friday after German bank Commerzbank confirmed that it had brokered the sale of a 4.5-percent stake in the English Premiership champions for an unnamed buyer.

Glazer shot to fame in the United States when he splashed out 192 million dollars in 1995 for the struggling US football Tampa Bay franchise.

He funded a new 200-million-dollar stadium and helped drag the team out of the doldrums, culminating in this year's Super Bowl victory.

Glazer, whose family made its money from the oil and gas industries, is listed as the 244th richest American by Forbes magazine, worth an estimated one billion dollars. He was recently tipped to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.

But he is not the only player in the mysterious takeover saga at Manchester United.

In October Irish racing tycoons John Paul "J.P." McManus and John Magnier sparked takeover rumours by doubling their own stake to 23.15 percent, making them the club's biggest shareholders.

Dutch television mogul John de Mol is also in the frame with a smaller stake in Manchester United.

Takeover rumours have swirled around a series of English sides since Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich snapped up Premiership side Chelsea in June.

Manchester United are seen as a particularly attractive proposition due to the combination of their success on the pitch and huge commercial revenues from sponsorship and merchandise sales.

The group announced Monday that it had extended its sponsorship with mobile phone giant Vodafone, agreeing a new four-year deal worth 36 million pounds (52 million euros, 62 million dollars).

The current 30-million-pound agreement, signed in June 2000, was due to expire at the end of May next year.


Source: WorldSoccerNews.com

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