If the Glazers own 69 percent of Manchester United’s shares, what occurs to the staying 31 percent and do those minority investors have any state over the existing sale procedure?
That the club is noted on the New York stock market instead of London’s FTSE makes it far easier for the Glazers and potential purchasers, describes Dr Naaguesh Appadu, senior research study fellow at Bayes Business School.
“If we’re talking about a firm listed on the UK stock exchange, if someone buys 75 per cent of the firm it can be delisted and then when you reach 90 per cent of the company you own can squeeze out the remaining 10 per cent. But that’s in the UK,” Appadu says.
“However if it’s on the US stock exchange, 51 per cent is enough for the firm to take a decision on the rest of the shareholdings. If there’s a proposition to take over more than 51 per cent, the 31 per cent won’t have any say.
“If part of the 31 per cent might not accept to sell their shareholdings, whoever is going to buy the Glazers’ 69 per cent will still control the company and shareholdings. Therefore if ever the remaining shareholders want to buy shares it’ll be at the original price – they had a choice to sell it but never sold it so then won’t have that choice.”
The minority owners can argue about the price their shares are sold for, a process known as dissent, but they are unable to do much more than demand some extra money.
“There can be no resistance,” Appadu adds. “They don’t have the power. The Glazers, even if most of their shares are leveraged, own 69 per cent and that means the rest don’t control the firm.”
