Avram Glazer has concluded plans to reduce his family ownership of Manchester United from 78 percent to 74.9 percent by selling a part of his stake in the club.
Once the 60-year-old American businessman who has been the executive co-chairman of Manchester United since 2005 succeeds in selling a part of shares, his stake in Manchester United will drastically reduce to 10.2 percent.
After Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with AC Milan on Thursday, March 11, 2021, the club announced that Avram Glazer has offered 5, 000, 000 of United’s Class A Ordinary Shares which is under Glazer’s Irrevocable Exempt Trust for sale.
Since Manchester United is traded on New York Stock Exchange, Avram Glazer’s Class A Ordinary Shares in Manchester United can fetch him a whopping $100.65 million based on the current New York Stock Exchange valuation of $20.13 per share.
The offering will be up for grabs until Tuesday, March 16, 2021, and anyone who succeeds in buying the shares within the window will automatically own a “tenth of the voting rights of Class B shares”, according to a statement from Manchester United.
Though the club did not reveal where the proceeds of the sales would go, a statement from the Premier League giants confirmed that that the proceeds of the sale would not go to United.
Avram Glazer is offering a part of his shares in Manchester United for sale weeks after the executive vice-chairman of the club Ed Woodward confirmed that the club is in financial crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The club’s debt has increased by 16 percent, thanks to the 12-month coronavirus pandemic and the £455.5 million debt might continue to rise if fans are not allowed to return to match venues soonest.
Recall that since mid-March last year, Premier League games are being played behind closed doors to prevent the spread of coronavirus. When this season commenced, the government of the United Kingdom attempted a tiers system that permitted a specific number of fans to be allowed in some selected match venues. The policy did not favor Manchester United until it was stopped less than one month after its introduction.
However, Ed Woodward believes that fans might soon be allowed into match venues since the government of the UK have been rolling out the coronavirus vaccines. But before then, Manchester United, just like other major clubs in Europe have to keep looking for alternative means of generating revenue to keep the business side of the game afloat.
