By NICK HARRIS
The drama unfolding at Manchester United is beginning to make Footballers' Wives look like a kitchen sink drama. It involves millionaires, billionaires and a "mystery" American investor.
There are Irish racing tycoons, a Dutch TV mogul, an expansionist US sports magnate and the intriguing possibility of a David
and Goliath showdown between the corporate hustlers and the fans.
Throw in the whispers and intrigue about the fate of the "The Boss" and there, in a nutshell, is the battle for control of England's most famous football club.
Speculation about a takeover bid at Old Trafford has intensified in the past few days to such an extent that supporters have called on two of the largest investors, the Irish millionaires J. P. McManus and John Magnier, to make public their intentions.
The pair used the jointly-owned Cubic Expression Company to increase their stake in the club last week from 8.65 per cent to 10.37 per cent, making them the largest single shareholders in United, ahead of Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB (9.9 per cent).
McManus and Magnier are close associates of Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, and it has been rumoured that they might be planning to buy the club. Ferguson, who was on the verge of retirement last season, changed his mind at the 11th hour. If his friends took over, retirement could be postponed indefinitely.
He could continue as manager and then, at some stage, become chairman of the club, unchallenged in his fiefdom.
Supporters' groups said they wanted to know what was being planned.
"Magnier and McManus have moved in and said they want a big stake in the football club yet have made no statement as to what their intentions are," Andy Walsh, a representative of the club's Independent Supporters' Association, said.
"From a football fan's point of view I am concerned but as Murdoch will tell anybody, if they try to take over Manchester United Football Club without consulting the supporters, the supporters will make damn sure their views are known."
They have form: an attempt by BSkyB to buy the club in 1999 failed after vocal opposition from fans and small shareholders.
McManus and Magnier are members of the so-called "Coolmore Mafia", a term coined in honour of Magnier's stud farm outside Dublin. McManus, worth an estimated £223 million ($635 million), has built a formidable reputation as a professional gambler and owns more than 100 racehorses. He also co-owns a beach resort in Barbados, with another Irish millionaire, Dermot Desmond, the owner of Celtic FC, who also owns about 3 per cent of United.
Magnier is the son-in-law of the racehorse trainer Vincent O'Brien and includes the former Irish Prime Minister, Charles Haughey, among his friends.
Until McManus and Magnier publicise their intentions, speculation will continue to centre on whether they are planning a buy-out. They are not legally obliged to launch a bid until their holding moves above 29.9 per cent.
Some analysts believe they may simply be investing in what they see as undervalued stock. The value of United peaked three years ago when it became the first and only sports club in the world to be valued at more than £1 billion. The value has crashed since and it is now worth around £350 million. Crucially, it is one of few clubs seen as a steady prospect in what have been turbulent times for football. Its interim results are also due at the end of the month and the City expects them to be good.
That could be one reason why other high-profile investors have been either buying in or increasing their holdings.
John de Mol, the Dutch billionaire TV mogul that gave Big Brother to the world, had bought around 2.5 per cent of United. Then came the news that US sports magnate Malcolm Glazer had acquired a 2.9 per cent stake. Glazer owns new Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It has also emerged that a "mystery" Washington businessman, Richard Post, had bought a 2 per cent stake in the club via an Irish stockbroking company last year.
There was even one report that said speculated Post might be a former CIA agent. There was no evidence for that apart from the fact that there is a businessman somewhere in America called Richard Post who used to be a CIA agent ...
Stranger than fiction? That's Manchester United these days.
- INDEPENDENT
English football standings
By NICK HARRIS
The drama unfolding at Manchester United is beginning to make Footballers' Wives look like a kitchen sink drama. It involves millionaires, billionaires and a "mystery" American investor.
There are Irish racing tycoons, a Dutch TV mogul, an expansionist US sports magnate and the intriguing possibility of a David
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