United thread 2012/13 (inc merged IPO thread)

[blueinsa]

Re: United thread 2012/13.

Reuters, Thursday July 26 2012

By Stephen Lacey and Olivia Oran NEW YORK (Reuters) - Manchester United is planning to launch the marketing road show for its proposed 193 million pounds U.S. initial public offering within days, after a delay earlier this week, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The British football club, which is controlled by the Glazer family, may start the road show as soon as Friday or early next week, according to the sources. The offering is expected to value the team at roughly $3 billion. But sources warned that market conditions could lead to further delays. The S&P 500 fell for the fourth day on Wednesday amid worries about the European debt crisis and earnings, and the volatility has already led to at least one delay. Sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday that the club was planning a launch earlier this week but delayed it because of market conditions and was going to reevaluate conditions. If the launch happens as planned now, the club could price the offering in the week of August 13, the sources said. Manchester United could not be reached for comment. The offering is being watched closely by millions of the club's fans, who follow the team with almost religious fervour. The Glazers, who took control of the club in 2005, have been reviled for saddling up the team with too much debt, leading to fears that it would not be able to attract the best football players. The team has 423 million pounds of debt ($658 million), which the owners hope the IPO will help reduce. In 2010, a group of wealthy Manchester United fans known as the Red Knights, which included Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill, tried to buy the team for 1 billion pounds, arguing that the team's value was in decline. The Glazer family, better known in the United States as owners of American football team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, made their fortune owning and leasing shopping centres. The family will remain in control of the team after the offering through the use of a dual-class structure in which the Glazers' shares will have 10 times the voting power of average investors' shares. Their attempts to take the club public have, however, run into trouble. The team scrapped plans to list in Hong Kong and Singapore after demand came in weaker than expected. It had originally looked to raise as much as $1 billion in Singapore. Morgan Stanley, which was one of the underwriters for the offering planned in Singapore, dropped out of the syndicate for the U.S. IPO due to concerns that the valuation the team was seeking was not realistic, sources have previously said. Now, Jefferies Group Inc is the lead book runner in the syndicate, which also includes Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank. The banks plan is to benchmark Manchester United against both traditional media companies as well as consumer goods companies. There have historically been few publicly traded sports teams in the U.S., with the exception of the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Indians - both now privately held. The company is slated to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "MANU." (Reporting By Stephen Lacey of IFR and Olivia Oran; Editing by Paritosh Bansal, Bernard Orr)

If only we could follow this righteous business model...

MCFC, cheating and ruining football since 2008!

 

[Skashion]

Re: Utd and their Failed IPO

Why would anyone buy shares with no power. Its like buying a house and being told you cant actually live in it

It's not at all. If the shares are guaranteed to make money, there will be queues of buyers even without voting rights. However, they're far from that and having no voting rights is another protection against their risk, lost.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Re: Utd and their Failed IPO

This IPO was initiated with the disclosure of only part year financial results declared, does anyone know how long they can postpone the IPO before they have to declare the vital full years results which promise to be far worse than the original declaration?

Normally it wouldn't be allowed on the NYSE with audited accounts over 12 months old. But the rags asked for (and got) a 3-month extension. They have 90 days from the initial filing I think, which was July 5th so that takes them to September 30th, at which point their last audited accounts will be 15 months old. So if they don't do it by then, they won't be doing it using the 2011 accounts.

 

[JM Mcr]

Re: Utd and their Failed IPO

What makes me laugh is the volatility excuse. Why would anyone invest in this ipo when you have no control, no dividend and the company is being bleed dry. Its not clear what the p/e ratio is for this offer so heaven knows what investors make of it.

Although Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Deutschebank are prepared to underwrite the offer, should it indeed go ahead. Bet the Glazers are grateful that those institutions are purely going to rely on their years of experience in global investment banking rather than seeking more expert financial advice from bluemoon before deciding whether or not to proceed ;-)

 

[Metal Biker]

Re: Utd and their Failed IPO

What makes me laugh is the volatility excuse. Why would anyone invest in this ipo when you have no control, no dividend and the company is being bleed dry. Its not clear what the p/e ratio is for this offer so heaven knows what investors make of it.

Although Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Deutschebank are prepared to underwrite the offer, should it indeed go ahead. Bet the Glazers are grateful that those institutions are purely going to rely on their years of experience in global investment banking rather than seeking more expert financial advice from bluemoon before deciding whether or not to proceed ;-)

Well it's worked wonders for them so far, hasn't it.

 

[bluevengence]

Re: Utd and their Failed IPO

What makes me laugh is the volatility excuse. Why would anyone invest in this ipo when you have no control, no dividend and the company is being bleed dry. Its not clear what the p/e ratio is for this offer so heaven knows what investors make of it.

Although Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Deutschebank are prepared to underwrite the offer, should it indeed go ahead. Bet the Glazers are grateful that those institutions are purely going to rely on their years of experience in global investment banking rather than seeking more expert financial advice from bluemoon before deciding whether or not to proceed ;-)

Should`nt you be washing your Green And Yellow scarf ready for the new season?

 

[JM Mcr]

Re: Utd and their Failed IPO

Football clubs, in general, are a very poor investment. Most prudent investors would stay well away. Buying second-class shares with no voting rights when your growth is heavily dependent on you being more successful than competitors with very deep pockets like Sheikh Mansour and Roman Abramovich. You're damn right it's volatile and Manchester City are part of the glorious problem.

Think that's why they're proposing to list it as a media company. They seem to think that they have plenty of commercial opportunities still to tap into - particularly on the mobile media side.

I'm also not convinced that Utd's future profitability is solely driven by results on the pitch. Yes they need to be challenging for, but not necessarily winning, trophies on a regular basis to continue to maximise their "brand". For anyone who is wary that they may not be able to continue to "grow the brand" without winning titles they can always point to Liverpool FC as an example. Their global popularity hasn't diminished much despite not winning the league for over 20 years, a fact their marketing dept. appear to have belatedly realised.

In short whilst I'd like see this fail, to try and force the Glazers out, I can't shake the feeling that they may just pull it off. I remember when the doom n gloom merchants were saying no investor would go near the bond issue a few years back (even with the proposed interest rate of 8.5%) only for the issue to be twice oversubscribed.<br /><br />-- Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:18 am --<br /><br />

What makes me laugh is the volatility excuse. Why would anyone invest in this ipo when you have no control, no dividend and the company is being bleed dry. Its not clear what the p/e ratio is for this offer so heaven knows what investors make of it.

Although Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Deutschebank are prepared to underwrite the offer, should it indeed go ahead. Bet the Glazers are grateful that those institutions are purely going to rely on their years of experience in global investment banking rather than seeking more expert financial advice from bluemoon before deciding whether or not to proceed ;-)

Well it's worked wonders for them so far, hasn't it.

I don't know yet, depends whether the IPO goes ahead or not. The fact that such respected global institutions didn't dismiss it out of hand suggests they think there may be something to the proposals.

 

[laserblue]

Re: Utd and their Failed IPO

Think that's why they're proposing to list it as a media company.

first remove the words 'football club' from your badge,then decribe yourself as a 'media company' instead of a football club and voila the metamorphosis is complete. matt busby must be turning in his grave.

 

[JM Mcr]

Re: Utd and their Failed IPO

What makes me laugh is the volatility excuse. Why would anyone invest in this ipo when you have no control, no dividend and the company is being bleed dry. Its not clear what the p/e ratio is for this offer so heaven knows what investors make of it.

Although Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Deutschebank are prepared to underwrite the offer, should it indeed go ahead. Bet the Glazers are grateful that those institutions are purely going to rely on their years of experience in global investment banking rather than seeking more expert financial advice from bluemoon before deciding whether or not to proceed ;-)

Should`nt you be washing your Green And Yellow scarf ready for the new season?

That's why I like posting on bluemoon, there's always mature, informed debate - n then there's you :-)<br /><br />-- Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:26 am --<br /><br />

Think that's why they're proposing to list it as a media company.

first remove the words 'football club' from your badge,then decribe yourself as a 'media company' instead of a football club and voila the metamorphosis is complete. matt busby must be turning in his grave.

He must be and I'm not defending it.

 

[pfazz]

Re: Utd and their Failed IPO

This IPO was initiated with the disclosure of only part year financial results declared, does anyone know how long they can postpone the IPO before they have to declare the vital full years results which promise to be far worse than the original declaration?

Normally it wouldn't be allowed on the NYSE with audited accounts over 12 months old. But the rags asked for (and got) a 3-month extension. They have 90 days from the initial filing I think, which was July 5th so that takes them to September 30th, at which point their last audited accounts will be 15 months old. So if they don't do it by then, they won't be doing it using the 2011 accounts.

Thanx for that.