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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Red Knight O'Neill still wants to buy out the Glazers

Jim O'Neill is standing down from Goldman Sachs after 20 years
Jim O'Neill is standing down from Goldman Sachs after 20 years
The businessman who led the attempted Red Knights takeover of United today revealed he hasn’t given up hope of spearheading a buyout of the Glazer family.
Jim O’Neill fronted the group that tried to unseat the Americans and bring the ownership of United to its supporters in March 2010.

The Red Knights, understood at the time to be made up of as many as 40 business figures, were ultimately unsuccessful in their quest, with the club’s controversial owners standing firm.
O’Neill’s involvement in the movement was also thought to have upset his bosses at global investment bank Goldman Sachs. But the Gatley-born economist (below) has announced he will retire from the finance firm later this year, which could pave the way for a renewed takeover charge.
And he pledged any potential move would once again involve Reds fans being given the option to put up cash to fund the deal.

O’Neill said today: “I haven’t lost my desire to get involved in executing a philanthropic-based ownership of Manchester United.”It is understood O’Neill believes it is unlikely, but not impossible, the Glazers would look to sell-up in the near future.But the world-respected economist, who was a non-executive director at Old Trafford before the Glazers took charge in 2005, added his retirement from Goldman Sachs would make it easier for him to get involved in pulling together a consortium to launch a takeover bid.He said: “With what I am doing, should the opportunity come along, I would certainly have the time to look at it and I wouldn’t have the restrictions I had previously.”
O’Neill is understood to have a network of contacts around the world who would have an appetite for investing in United.

One of the biggest barriers to a group like the Red Knights launching a takeover attempt would be the relative success of United’s partial flotation on the New York Stock Exchange.
The club’s shares have risen above the $15 mark they launched at, giving it a valuation of around £2bn.

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