TELEGRAPH - UNITED'S FATE TO BE DECIDED BY IRISH DUO THIS WEEK
JP McManus and John Magnier, the reclusive Irish billionaires who hold a 29 per cent stake in Manchester United, will this week decide whether the club retains its treasured status as an independent listed company.
The duo are due to meet with representatives of Malcolm Glazer, the US sports tycoon who has made an £800m, or 300p per share offer, for the club.
If they decide to sell to Glazer, it will lead to the keys to Old Trafford becoming the personal property of the American - against the wishes of the Man Utd board and its legions of fans.
If Glazer adds Cubic's 28.9 per cent stake to his own 28.1 per cent stake, the Man Utd board will be unable to resist his takeover attempt.
NM Rothschild, the investment bank advising Glazer, is still pressing the Man Utd board to recommend the sports tycoon's offer.
But the bank is prepared to approach Cubic Expression, the investment vehicle for McManus and Magnier, with a firm cash offer without a board recommendation.
A statement from the club, expected towards the end of this week, will reiterate the board's belief that Glazer's highly leveraged offer will damage the club's finances over the long term. However, the board will also say that it has no choice but to let shareholders have the final decision.
It is estimated that McManus and Magnier each stand to make a profit of about £50m from the deal since they bought into Man Utd when the share price was significantly lower.
A banker with links to Cubic, said yesterday: "If they [McManus and Magnier] did not want this deal to happen, then why have they not shut the door before now?"
THE OBSERVER - UNITED HEDGE OVER GLAZER OFFER
Manchester United's board of directors is set to tell Malcolm Glazer that it cannot support his bid but crucially will not tell the club's shareholders to reject the takeover terms.
The response to the latest £800m proposal is likely to be delivered to the American in writing next week.
Glazer will then have to decide whether to table a formal takeover offer. He will inevitably first ask the Irishmen JP McManus and John Magnier, who jointly own 29.1% of shares, whether they are likely to sell. Without Irish support, Glazer cannot achieve the minimum level of 75% control he requires.
THE INDEPENDENT - UNTED BOARD UNLIKELY TO ACCEPT GLAZER OFFER
Manchester United's board is unlikely to recommend a revised bid for the club by Malcolm Glazer to shareholders. A formal decision is expected after the weekend but it seems the board will opt for a "third way" stance of neither backing nor rejecting a 300p per share offer, leaving shareholders to make up their own minds instead.
The board has previously said it considers Glazer's offer fair but it is unlikely to recommend it to shareholders because it will leave the club too heavily indebted. Nothing substantial about the funding has changed in Glazer's approach.
United's fate in the face of Glazer's approach has rested on whether the club's major stakeholders, John Magnier and JP McManus, will sell their 29 per cent holding, owned via their Cubic Expression company, to the American. That remains the case. But if the board effectively absolves itself of a guiding decision, the responsibility for United's future ownership will weigh heavier on the Irish racing tycoons than ever.
Glazer must now try how to persuade the Irish to sell, although he has yet to make any direct approach to them. Cubic have never commented publicly on their intentions, saying only that they are happy to be "long-term investors". However, sources in Ireland familiar with their thinking, say they are unlikely to find 300p per share attractive, having rejected a private offer at that price last year.