• Premier League

Man Utd share price 40% below Glazer target

Richard Jolly
September 13, 2012
Ten per cent of Manchester United's shares were put up for sale on the New York Stock Exchange last month © PA Photos
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Manchester United's share price has dropped to $12 - its lowest price yet and giving the club a valuation 40% less than the Glazers had hoped.

Ten per cent of United's shares were put up for sale on the New York Stock Exchange last month with their American owners hoping to achieve a price of $20 each, which would have valued the club at $3.3 billion.

But they only received $14 a share at first, and even that was down to the financial institutions who had underwritten the Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Since then, prices have slipped further and reached the $12 barrier at midday on Thursday in New York - giving United a value of $2 billion (just over £1.2 billion).

The Glazers paid around £800 million to complete their takeover in 2005 and, had shares sold at $20 apiece, stood to make a huge profit if the remaining 90% of shares were made available to investors.

However, financial analysts have long warned that United's shares were overpriced and in August, PrivCo, the Private Financial Company Data Authority, said the right value for them was just $4.97 each.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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