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Building D5
Fairoaks Airport
Chobham
Surrey
GU24 8HU
Tel: 0871 399 0089
Fax: 01276 858010
View map
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Red Knights gearing up for Manchester United bid
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The group of City financiers known as the Red Knights are getting ready to appoint official bank advisers. This is a sign of growing intent to bid on Manchester United. There has been a high degree of support for the bid idea and oen of the Knights has said that the whole process has been a "sort of social phenomenon." The Red Knights hope to raise £600 million to anchor their bid.
The Red Knights include Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill and Mark Rawlinson, whose legal firm Freshfields is also the groups' legal adviser. It is believed that the banking advisers are sought to deal with the market volatility and to deal with those who may see the bid as acquisition of a risky asset. Given the global economic environment there is no certainty of the Red Knights raising the amount of money needed to buy out the Glazer family, which currently owns the club. Red Knights are considering selling a stake in the club to fans through a share issue. If they do so, they will be following the successful model of Barcelona where over 100,000 fans own the club. Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who own Liverpool have not been able to sell the club despite trying for over an year and now they are thinking of a capital increase of about £100 million. |
