Pursuits
Manchester United Seeks Double Valuation of Rival Clubs in IPO
This article is for subscribers only.
The owners of Manchester United Ltd., winner of 19 English soccer championships, are betting the club can complete an initial public offering that will make it twice as valuable as any other sports franchise.
The Glazer family is seeking an enterprise value of $3.8 billion for the 134-year-old team in tomorrow’s IPO, about $1.9 billion more than the value of Spain’s Real Madrid, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Forbes. The $333 million U.S. offering would also make United about 10 times as expensive relative to sales as publicly traded European teams such as Juventus Football Club SpA, while leaving the Glazers with almost all the voting control.