Source from NYTimes (Julia Werdigier and Michael J. de la Merced contributed reporting.)
Manchester United, the English Premier League soccer power that is already the most valuable sports team in the world, is preparing to sell shares on the Singapore stock exchange that could raise about $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the plan who declined to be identified before the details of the sale were made public.
Manchester United has been something of a paradox since the Glazer family took over the club in 2005. Fans feared that the American owners would run the club into the ground, and fretted about the tens of millions of dollars in debt they added to its balance sheet. Yet the club remains as popular and successful as ever, and revenue has continued to grow.
If the Glazers get their way, their fans may be able to breathe a little easier.
Manchester United officials declined to comment on the potential share sale. But sports industry advisers say that the Glazers, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, would sell only a minority stake in the club and use some of the proceeds to pay off debt and reduce interest expenses.
The Glazers are looking to issue shares in Asia because so many of the club’s fans are there, and the team’s popularity would allow it to potentially raise more than it would if it issued shares in London. A listing in Singapore could fuel sales of merchandise, sponsorships and media rights in Asia.
“The owners know that a major new investment would put them in a better place and put their relationship with their supporters in a better place,” said John Williams, the director of the Center for the Sociology of Sport at the University of Leicester in England. “I can see this killing a number of birds with one stone.”
Most owners of sports teams avoid listing their teams on public exchanges because they prefer to avoid the increased scrutiny from regulators. Manchester United was publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange before the Glazers bought the club.
Despite criticism from some fans, the Glazers have denied that they are interested in selling the club. The club last year repaid about $350 million in high-interest loans without using the team’s money. The club has been successful on the field, winning the Premier League title last year for the fourth time in five seasons and finishing second in the Champions League.
But competition remains fierce. Real Madrid and Barcelona, which can negotiate their own television deals, earn tens of millions of dollars more than Manchester United each year. In England, the free-spending owners of Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and other clubs have aggressively pursued the world’s best players.
“All these clubs want to be the biggest brand in the soccer world,” said Rob Tilliss, who advises some Premier League clubs for Inner Circle Sports.
It is unclear how Manchester United’s share sale will be viewed by UEFA, the governing body of soccer in Europe. It has been trying to enforce rules for financial fair play to prevent teams from spending wildly on players.
For now, Manchester United remains the world’s biggest soccer brand. Forbes valued the team at $1.86 billion, slightly ahead of the N.F.L.’s Dallas Cowboys. Revenues have grown steadily in recent years, with income from broadcasting, ticket sales and commercial sales each making up about one-third.
Manchester United’s parent company, Red Football Joint Venture, however, said in March that it had a record pretax loss of £109 million, or $178 million, in the year that ended in June 2010. The loss was 36 percent larger than what the company had reported in October, according to a public filing of its accounts.
Though a share sale is unlikely to happen before the end of the year, an infusion of cash would provide the Glazers with financial breathing room and perhaps ease tensions with their fans.
“If they go public, it solidifies their position as owners for at least another generation because it provides them with liquidity for the franchise,” said Marc Ganis, the president of SportsCorp, a sports consultancy. ‘)}
