COURTROOM SAGA

Last updated : 18 February 2005 By Editor

Ashling O'Conner today warns that a court battle may be in the future. This from The Times.

Manchester United fans should brush up on their knowledge of the law as the
Glazer family refuses to admit defeat. One case holds the key to the United
board's defence against a £3-a-share cash offer: Dawson International v Coats Patons, 1991. Lord Prosser, presiding in an Edinburgh court, dismissed the claim by Dawson, known for Pringle knitwear, against Coats (now Coats Viyella), for reneging on an agreed takeover. The judge ruled that the directors of Coats could consider the interests of the company "in the broadest sense" rather than solely the interests of individual shareholders.

Freshfields, United's lawyers, are holding it up as the precedent upon which the club's directors can refuse to recommend the Glazer family's offer. The Glazers' lawyers at Allen & Overy, for their part, believe that the Scottish case has no legal authority in England and have dug out two of their own precedents from 1983 and 1991, where the judges ruled that directors must " ensure that the shareholders get as much as possible for their shares". If the United saga gets to the hostile stage, the gloves may yet come off in a courtroom.