Manchester United to list in New York

Published:  31 Jul at 9 AM

Manchester United Football Club has announced plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The club aims to sell 16.7 million shares at as much as $20 each in an effort to raise $330 million. The decision follows a fall in revenue over the last year after the team saw its Champion’s League hopes dashed.

Manchester United said that it plans to use any money raised from the share sale to pay off some of its debts. The club currently owes £437 million. United is controlled by the Glazer family who borrowed a significant amount of money to purchase the club. The repayment of these loans has been an ongoing problem.

For the year ending in June the total revenue for United was between £315 million and £320 million which was a drop of around five per cent on last year. Failure to make it past the group stages of the Champion’s League meant that broadcasting revenues were down by as much as 13 per cent.

However, Forbes magazine recently said that Manchester United was the most valuable sports club in the world with a value of $2.23 billion. By the end of the year the club hopes to announce profits of £23 million. This will be a 77 per cent increase on a year earlier due to tax credits.

This week a deal was signed with Chevrolet, the US car manufacturer, whose logo will replace Aon’s on the team strip from the 2014/15 season. The deal has been signed for a period of seven years.