The Glazer family is showing more interest in selling Manchester United — and investors are taking notice.
The publicly traded team’s stock price has surged more than 70% over the past week.
- The Glazers are reportedly looking for a price above $7.2 billion, which would be a world record for a sports team sale.
- The family is retaining The Raine Group as its exclusive financial advisor. Raine handled the sale of Premier League rival Chelsea.
- The Glazers have not committed to a full sale — perhaps to retain leverage — and Raine has not defined a timeline.
The Glazers, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have faced fan protests calling on them to sell the team since the beginning of the Premier League’s season.
Whoever purchases the team will not have its most famous star: Cristiano Ronaldo will depart by mutual agreement after being highly critical of the team in a recent interview.
Buyers Lining Up
Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, a boyhood fan of Manchester United who made a late bid for Chelsea, has shown interest in buying the team. Zara founder Amancio Ortega is reportedly interested as well.
Inter Miami part-owner David Beckham could join a consortium looking to buy the team.
Last week, a report signaled that Apple could make a stunning play for Manchester United, but subsequent reports have disputed that notion.