Manchester United has confirmed that Cubic Expression, the investment vehicle of Irish horse racing magnates JP McManus and John Magnier, now owns 23.15% of the club's shares.
This follows an announcement this morning that satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting had sold its entire 9.9% stake in Manchester United at 239p a share, fuelling speculation that the Premiership football club could be the target of an imminent takeover bid.
Yesterday Manchester United shares jumped 7% to a two and a half year high on renewed speculation that a takeover bid for the club is imminent.
This corporate activity will add to speculation there will be a takeover bid emerging. Last week Manchester United reported full year results and attempted to play down the takeover talk. Chairman Sir Roy Gardner said the board had no reason to believe a bid was imminent.
Yesterday, investment group Lansdowne Partners announced it had reduced its shareholding to 5.2% from over 6%. This follows the announcement last week that Malcolm Glazer, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had raised his stake to 5.9%.
The club is now valued at over £860m, but at results last week management insisted no takeover discussions had been held.
Another high profile shareholder is John de Mol, the billionaire behind reality TV show Big Brother, who has also been buying shares.
Head of research at Dolmen Securities Stuart Draper told RTÉ this morning that the firm was in great shape and that the worst days for player inflation were over.
He said: 'On the revenue side there is great visibility in terms of TV contracts, season tickets and merchandising. So costs have been capped and there is good growth in revenue. They have no debt, so are in a position of surplus cash, and look like quite a good investment perspective.'
Drapier said: 'If I owned a lot of shares in Manchester United and someone offered me 239 per share, which is fully valued offer, I'd sell.'
Prior to the sale, BSkyB held 25.95 million Manchester United shares. BSkyB will therefore receive gross proceeds of approximately £62m. BSkyB's stake was a legacy of its failed £623m bid for Manchester United five years ago.
