Hey, Brits! Manchester United

[MdR Dave]

Man. U is selling shares over the US markets.

From a grassroots standpoint ( and leave loyalty to your football club out of it): would you buy?

How popular are they? Sell a lot of merchandise? Tickets?

I know nothing about soccer, by the way, past the fact that it brought Posh Spice to Los Angeles- love that girl!

[rodinuk]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2012/jul/31/manchester-united-flotation-fantasy

debts of nearly half-a-billion UK sterling and some puzzlement as to why they're floating in the US market.

[GroobySteven]

Don't do it!
That Guardian article is spot on. The Glazer's are in so much debt elsewhere.

[SammiValentine]

i'd rather chop my own cock off with a blunt butter knife.

[RedDevil81]

Man. U is selling shares over the US markets.

From a grassroots standpoint ( and leave loyalty to your football club out of it): would you buy?

How popular are they? Sell a lot of merchandise? Tickets?

I know nothing about soccer, by the way, past the fact that it brought Posh Spice to Los Angeles- love that girl!

Out of loyalty to my football club, which is Man United I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole. The Glazers represent prettymuch everything I hate about modern football, and business for that matter.

And yes, they are pretty popular!

[brooksglass]

I'v never been fond of that lot for obvious reasons so I don't care what happens to them but it's a shame that some clubs have become so corporate and international at the expense of the local people, it's why I stick to lower league football and Rugby League at the minute.

[beaufont]

i'd rather chop my own cock off with a blunt butter knife.

Don't do it Sammi xx just wait for Liverpool's share's to become available & hide the cutlery!!!!!!!!

[timxxx]

I'll put it this way,count your fingers after you shake hands with The Glazers.

[LeatherTGirlLover]

i'd rather chop my own cock off with a blunt butter knife.

Do mine while you're at it Sammi

Are we kinky...hell yeah but this is about something even more important than that...club loyalty lol xx

[Quiet Reflections]

Probably a bad idea to buy however they are considered the most valuable sports franchise worth over 2 billion, that includes the MLB and the NFL.

[SpoogeMonkey]

uk person here and football fan

manunited are as big as they can be in the uk, but they have been building the world brand for sometime. as a pure investment it might not be the worse idea in the world because they are owned by financial bastards who are only out to make money.

however.. there are threats to the business. the investment from the middle east is a huge one. man city and paris st germain are recent sheikh aquisitions and im sure will not stop at spunking money on loads of expensive players, first they will build on the field, then off it. if manutd have too many years of not winning a trophy it will spell the end of Ferguson, the manager.

The whole of the club is built around ferguson, when he goes it will spell a decline for the club, his presence alone brings good performances out of average players. without him, its anyones guess.

i dont personally think manutd will get any bigger than they are, and its only a small decline that you'll be looking at. so you'll be buying shares at their premium rate or near premium rate. i doubt if this is anymore than a quick money raising exercise.. and for that reason, i would be cautious about that purchase.

[SammiValentine]

glazers are draining them as hicks gillette did to liverpool, just on a much more dramatic scale as man utd have even bigger commercial side -..total leeches need to be cut or the club is in serious trouble eventually, assett selling, raising finance, not being put back into the club. How many big money signings have they made with ronaldo and tevez money...?

i dont trust our new owners that much either, weve drastically cut our wage bill, look like we will be possibly losing key some big players yet and replacing them with errrm well, buying them for less and putting them on lesser wages, and the shit about kenny spending 100million yes he did, but we raised over 80 million of it through sales alone before even considering the millions in wages saved... oh and still no new stadium news as such. Hicks and gillete had previously spent £50 million on surveryers without a shovel in stanley park.. LOL

football is a lie (c) rafa

[flabbybody]

General rule of thumb from my 40 years of investing: When a business feels it has to sell a piece of itself in order to service large debt it almost never turns out well for the new shareholders.

The value of my preferred stock in Barclays and RBS was decimated back in 2008 when the property marked crashed, so I'm still a little leary about buying anything British. but owning a piece of a football team seems pretty cool so I'll never say never.

[The Piper]

i'd rather chop my own cock off with a blunt butter knife.


Yep.i'll go with that.

[brooksglass]

How exciting was Borini's goal tonight? Great display all round.

[SammiValentine]

yep.i'll go with that.
:):):):):)

[SammiValentine]

How exciting was Borini's goal tonight? Great display all round.

is right :)

[LeatherTGirlLover]

Sammi your Rafa quote sent shivers down my spine, i have serious man love for that guy, modern day Shanks to me xxxx

[SammiValentine]

is right also :D x

[rodinuk]

The float price has been lowered to $14 from the original $16-20 indicating lack of demand at the higher price

[flabbybody]

The float price has been lowered to $14 from the original $16-20 indicating lack of demand at the higher price

smart move. Facebook ipo failed because greedy bankers priced shares above their own range and lost millions when public walked away. FB is currently 21 after opening at 38.

For MANU $14 seems like a reasonable starting point and the lead underwriters won't go broke supporting the price. Glazers have a bit of a dodgy history but I'll put this on my radar and take a good look if it gets down to 11-12 range.

[SammiValentine]

ohhhhhhhhhhhh manchesterrrrrrrrr.........

[Fancy fancy]

Buying shares in any football club is ridiculous. In this instance, you do not even get a dividend, though you do receive massively deflated voting rights.

BUT................

Out of any European football club, Utd have consistently displayed strong financial performance, growth has been strong and over the medium term, i believe will remain so

Other uses for your money - you could buy Sammi Valentine a new arsehole.

[SammiValentine]

Buying shares in any football club is ridiculous. In this instance, you do not even get a dividend, though you do receive massively deflated voting rights.

BUT................

Out of any European football club, Utd have consistently displayed strong financial performance, growth has been strong and over the medium term, i believe will remain so

Other uses for your money - you could buy Sammi Valentine a new arsehole.

I will be long retired before thats needed but thanks for your immediate concern x

[reformedcharacter]

I think everyone on these boards should all get together and invest in a proper football club ........... Tranmere Rovers . Not only was the first t-girl I ever met in real life a Tranmere Rovers fan(like me) but we can all shout in public "come on the trannies" and "up the trannies" without anyone batting an eyelid :banana:

[Quiet Reflections]

Usain Bolt to get tryout with Manchester United



http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--usain-bolt-to-get-tryout-with-manchester-united-after-olympics.html;_ylt=AnTorV9MLp5YemwPaQSR3S1IAuh_;_y lu=X3oDMTFlOWhkaXNrBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzE0BHN lYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dCb2R5QXNzZW1ibHk-;_ylg=X3oDMTNkdnVibWh2BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDOTkwYmEzYTItNDQ3Yy0zMjYyLWE2YzgtNjFiOTRmNz JjYWZmBHBzdGNhdANvbHltcGljc3xmb3VydGgtcGxhY2VtZWRh bARwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3

[SammiValentine]

I think everyone on these boards should all get together and invest in a proper football club ........... Tranmere Rovers . Not only was the first t-girl I ever met in real life a Tranmere Rovers fan(like me) but we can all shout in public "come on the trannies" and "up the trannies" without anyone batting an eyelid :banana:

I remember her , if tis the same girl. x

[iago_delgado]

No vote, no dividend. WTF?

[onmyknees]

i'd rather chop my own cock off with a blunt butter knife.


No....anything but that...please. Buy some shares in the Green Bay Packers or something and use that butter knife for spreading jam or other tasty flavors on your English Muffins !

[blckhaze]

business wise....no
Love of man u wise......extra no
The Glazers one thing gotten right is staying out of Fergies way, football wise. Not hard to do.

[TSLoverUK999]

They predicted in 05 that we would be starting to come out of the debt around now & we aren't, the global financial situation made a huge dent in that.

The club success, fan base & merchandising ensures a level of security i.e. the Chevrolet deal. United have blue chip companies tripping over themselves to be associated with the United brand

To the Glazer's credit they leave the football alone & trust the right people i.e. David Gill & Fergie.

It's a long term investment due to the debt but it's one I would make, not just as a United fan but as an investor.

The only doubt is what happens when Fergie leaves the dug out. But United are now at the same level as Barca & Real in their culture & ethos, if they slump it's only to 2nd & 3rd.