MUST initial response to MUFC IPO pricing - time for Glazers to sell up

[TanyaT]

MUST initial response to MUFC IPO pricing - time for Glazers to sell up
August 10 2012


In reaction to the initial pricing of Manchester United's New York IPO at $14 - well below the $20 the Glazers wanted, Duncan Drasdo, chief executive of the Manchester United Supporters Trust commented:

"It would seem all the analysis of the true valuation was correct - the Glazers and their advisors were being far too ambitious - or perhaps greedy and the true value of the shares should be around $10 rather than the $20 the Glazers were seeking"

"As it stands the club is valued at around one third less than their expectations but many commentators expect the price to slide over the next 2 weeks once it opens for trading. On the one hand it's good to see more realistic valuations being made although it is very early days as the stock hasn't yet begun trading - so we watch that with interest".

"On the other hand it means less money coming into the club to pay down the Glazers' debt and more annoyingly the Glazers still take further money out of the club for their own personal means. This is a huge missed opportunity to allow fans to take ownership of the club and see the Glazers exit cleanly - that's the real tragedy".

"We maintain this IPO will be bad for investors, not just the club and it's fans and we're confident time will show that to be true. We remain totally committed to fighting for fan ownership"

"Over the last few days our members have sent more than 1.5 million messages to the Glazers IPO Bankers and sponsors. This shows no sign of slowing down and we intend to push on now reaching out to United's global fan base. We call on all Manchester United supporters around the world to join the MUST campaign through our website www.joinmust.org to put maximum pressure on the Glazers to stop looking after themselves and for the first and last time do what is best for Manchester United Football Club and put it up for sale at a reasonable price so that fans can once again share in real ownership of their club."