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Manchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. The club was formed as Newton Heath LYR Football Club, the works team of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot in Newton Heath, in 1878. The club split from the railway company in 1892 and remained under private ownership for almost 100 years, changing its name to Manchester United after being saved from bankruptcy in 1902. The club went public in 1990 and was the subject of takeover bids from property trader Michael Knighton and Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB corporation before Malcolm Glazer's stake was announced in September 2003. By the end of the year, Glazer had increased his shareholding from 3.17% to around 15%, which he almost doubled in the year up to October 2004. His acquisition of John Magnier and J. P. McManus's 28.7% stake in May 2005 pushed his own up to around 57%, well over the 30% threshold that would force him to launch a takeover bid. A few days later, he took control of 75% of the club's shares, allowing him to delist the company from the stock exchange, and within a month, the Glazers took 98% ownership of the club via their Red Football parent company, forcing a squeeze out of the remaining 2%. The final purchase price of the club totalled almost £800 million. Most of the capital used by Glazer to purchase Manchester United came in the form of loans, the majority of which were secured against the club's assets, incurring interest payments of over £60 million per annum. The remainder came in the form of PIK loans (payment in kind loans), which were later sold to hedge funds. Manchester United was not liable for the PIKs, which were held by Red Football Joint Venture and were secured on that company's shares in Red Football (and thus the club). The interest on the PIKs rolled up at 14.25% per annum. Despite this, the Glazers did not pay down any of the PIK loans in the first five years they owned the club. In January 2010, the club carried out a successful £500 million bond issue, and by March 2010, the PIKs stood at around £207 million. The PIKs were eventually paid off in November 2010 by unspecified means. In August 2012, as part of further refinancing, the Glazers sold a number of shares in Manchester United in an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Some Manchester United fans opposed Glazer's takeover of the club, particularly once they realised the level of debt that the club would have to take on after having been debt-free for so many years. Since 2005, the Manchester United Supporters' Trust has been working on a way of returning ownership of the club to supporters; in 2010, they met with a group of wealthy Manchester United fans – dubbed the "Red Knights" – to discuss a billion-pound takeover bid. However, the bid fell through when the Red Knights refused to meet the Glazers' valuation of the club. ==Background== Manchester United was formed as Newton Heath L&YR F.C. in 1878 by the workers in the Carriage and Wagon Works of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's Newton Heath depot.〔Murphy, p. 11.〕 In 1901, the club was in over £2,500 of debt and facing a winding-up order;〔Murphy, p. 14.〕 however, they were saved by local brewer John Henry Davies, who changed their name to Manchester United in 1902.〔Murphy, pp. 15–6.〕 After Davies' death in 1927, the club fell into financial difficulties once again, but James W. Gibson stepped in as a new financial benefactor in 1931.〔Murphy, pp. 36, 39.〕 Gibson himself died in 1951, but while ownership of the club passed to his widow, Violet, control of the club passed to director and former player Harold Hardman.〔White, p. 92.〕 Meanwhile, a local businessman named Louis Edwards began accruing shares in Manchester United〔Crick and Smith, p. 58.〕 and was eventually made chairman on Hardman's death in 1965.〔White, p. 153.〕 His son, Martin Edwards, purchased a percentage of shares from Alan Gibson〔Crick and Smith, p. 134.〕 – son of former owner James Gibson – and became the majority shareholder and chairman when Louis Edwards died in 1980.〔Crick and Smith, pp. 168–9.〕 During Martin Edwards' time as chairman, Manchester United was the subject of several takeover bids; the first came from media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who bid £10 million in February 1984, but the sale fell through before any serious talks could take place.〔Crick and Smith, pp. 184–6.〕 In 1989, property magnate Michael Knighton was on the verge of completing a £20 million takeover,〔Crick and Smith, pp. 277–8.〕 but his financial backers pulled out at the last minute〔Crick and Smith, p. 284.〕 and he had to be content with merely a seat on the board.〔Crick and Smith, p. 293.〕 Manchester United was floated on the stock market in 1991,〔Bose, p. 78.〕 and they received yet another takeover bid in 1998, this time from Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB Corporation.〔Bose, p. 114.〕 The Manchester United board accepted a £623 million offer,〔Bose, p. 157.〕 but the takeover was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission at the final hurdle in April 1999.〔Bose, p. 175.〕 A few years later, a power struggle emerged between the club's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and his horse-racing partners, John Magnier and J. P. McManus, who had gradually become the largest shareholders via their company, Cubic Expression.〔Bose, p. 234.〕 In a dispute that stemmed from contested ownership of the horse Rock of Gibraltar, Magnier and McManus attempted to have Ferguson removed from his position as manager, and the board responded by approaching investors to attempt to reduce the Irishmen's influence.〔Bose, pp. 234–5.〕 Meanwhile, Avram Glazer – the son of Malcolm Glazer – was looking into investment in European football. The Glazer family already owned several businesses in the United States and had purchased the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League franchise in 1995. They convinced the local government to fund a new stadium for the Buccaneers in 1998 and the franchise won its first Super Bowl in January 2003.〔Bose, pp. 219–20.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Glazer ownership of Manchester United」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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