This from the Guardian on hedge fund money makers.
More than 10% of Manchester United's shares are thought to be in the hands of hedge funds - specialist, and usually secretive, investment firms who try to exploit takeover situations to make short-term profits.
The revelation comes as United's board waits for Malcolm Glazer to return with his latest takeover proposal. The American, however, has still to finalise his funding arrangements and is thought to have decided to wait until after United's financial results on Tuesday.
Most hedge funds trade through nominee accounts or derivative financial contracts, meaning their identity and the size of the investment is often impossible to establish. The scale of their interest in United will alarm fans' groups.
City sources say that individual hedge funds have at times built up stakes of 1.5% in United, and that their combined holding may be as high as 15%. Most of the shares will have been bought from conventional fund managers, who tend to invest for the long-term and are usually more supportive of companies' managements. The development may intensify the pressure on United's chairman Sir Roy Gardner and chief executive David Gill, who have so far resisted Glazer's proposal.
One hedge fund manager, who has traded in United shares, said: "It is not at all unusual for hedge funds to get that sort of double-digit percentage during a takeover battle on the London market. You can assume that their sole interest is capital gain. They are not there for the long-term."
Glazer's camp appears to be unworried by the time taken to finalise his proposal. The delay appears to have been caused by the need to secure the agreement of all the banks, JP Morgan being the main one, planning to lend to him.