(Football news) As Manchester United’s auction nears its conclusion, American investor Carlyle has been identified as one of the parties who are interested in acquiring a minority stake at Old Trafford. Carlyle is amongst the world’s largest private equity firms and has assets of more than $370 billion (£298bn) under management. It currently owns companies such as RAC breakdown recovery service and Addison Lee, the taxi-hire group in the United Kingdom.
According to a report, Carlyle’s interest in Manchester United is “serious” and they have been engaged in discussions for some time. However, the key details and structure of the deal are yet to be finalised. The Raine Group has set a deadline for 28th April for final proposals to acquire or invest in Manchester United and also oversaw Chelsea’s takeover by a consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. Manchester United recently ended their six year long trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup after defeating Newcastle United 2-0 at the Wembley Stadium.
As things stand, only Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and INEOS owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe are interested in a takeover but have tabled offers below the £6bn figure. Several financial investors have also shown interest in becoming minority shareholders or providing structured finance in order to help the club revamp Old Trafford stadium and the Carrington training group. Elliott Management, who recently owned AC Milan, Ares Management Corporation and Sixth Street have been linked to the club.
If sold at £5bn, Manchester United will become the most expensive sports club in the world, eclipsing the $6bn (£4.8bn) takeover of the Washington Commanders NFL team which was agreed this week by American private equity billionaire Josh Harris. The reason for such a high valuation of Manchester United lies in the potential control of the club’s broadcast right as well as the fact that it’s arguably the most famous sports brand in the world.
The delay and introduction of a third round of bids has led to criticism from Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) who have called for the conclusion of the auction “without further delay”. A statement released by the organisation read “When it was announced in November that the Glazers were undertaking a ‘strategic review’ and inviting offers to buy the club, MUST welcomed the news and went on to urge the majority owners to move ahead with the process with speed, so that any period of uncertainty was as short as possible.
“Nearly five months on, we read speculation that offers from prospective buyers remain below the Glazers valuation, and that a third round of offers will now be invited. With Erik ten Hag having made such great progress in his first season, and with the vital summer transfer window a matter of weeks away, the news of these delays and further prolonged uncertainty are of great concern.”
When the Glazer family confirmed the launch of the strategic review in November, Manchester United’s executive co-chairmen Avram and Joel Glazer said “The strength of Manchester United rests on the passion and loyalty of our global community of 1.1bn fans and followers. We will evaluate all options to ensure that we best serve our fans and that Manchester United maximizes the significant growth opportunities available to the club today and in the future.”
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