The IPO stalls

The Glazer family launched its IPO on Wall street in a scene resembling a sketch from the league of gentlemen, one look at their ugly mushes would scare investors off, never mind their flawed business model. As the Economist put it, compared with this, Michael Glazer's facial hair seems attractive.

Andersred lays out the reasons why the Glazer's blatant personal money grab, won't benefit Manchester United for the next two years. It won't really change that much after that will it, but then, do they really care. Given the universal slating the IPO received from the world's press it was no suprise to see the IPO set below the rate they'd hoped at $14, hopefully it's set to slide towards $10 or even below. Whilst Fergie may or may not have been economical with the actualite, when he protested that he wouldn't benefit financially from the IPO, it was noticeable that Gill blustered yesterday, without actually denying that he would, what a slimeball.


Reading Michael Moritz again in this Daily beast article, i don't think MUST and the anti-Glazer cause has a better advocate. In fact he makes a brilliant case against leveraged buy outs and socially useless finacial system as described by Adair Turner a few years back in general.

Back to the issue we all wish we could concentrate on, the football. If anybody thought a midfield signing was going to appear out of the blue, the news Paul Scholes hasn't travelled to Hannover, should disabuse such wishful thinking. I suppose you could never wrap Paul Scholes in cotton wool, but Fergie would probably love to.
Ferdinand told the official site how great it was for the younger lads to play and train with the maestro on the recent pre-season tour. The man himself wants United to match the standards set by City who he thinks played the best football last season and deserved the title.
I don't think there is that much between the squads, if we can actually stay reasonably injury free. I'll say it, getting Vidic back is like signing a new player and i like the look of our two signings so far, Powell looks very promising and i can see Kagawa being a contender fro player of the season, two footed, vision, goals, i think he will be the complete package.
Despite being owned by the Adams family of the financial world i still fancy us to be in the hunt for trophies and have a sneaking feeling that we will regain the title from our six fingered cousins across town.

Will Hutton reviews three books exploring the alternative's to a successful future economic policy for the country and for the global economy. I will be reading Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson's latest book, he's not really a radical thinker, his is answer is classic post war social democracy. Not that there's anything wrong with that, that was a far more prosperous time for the mass of the population at large as opposed to the top 10% to 1% of today.But you can never just rewind the clock, the future will hopefully mix the best bits of the 45-75 era with the more socially liberal era since and look at the ideas exponded by the Skidelsky's.
Jonathan Portes asks which macro-economists are worth listening to, and argues that those that are able to demonstrate testable predictions, based on data and then to have been proved right after the event.
Anatloe Kaletsky joins in with Simon Jenkins long standing argument that instead of using quantitive easing to improve bank balance sheets, it should be used for the people instead. Of course it would be more socially just, would probably work, short term anyway, but with Mervyn King as bank of England and Gideon the chancellor, pigs will fly before this idea takes off.

Howard Jacobson salutes the Australian art critic Robert Hughes who passed away last week, i haven't read any of his book, but i have seen some of his TV work which i loved. I will have to get around to reading the Fatal shore, that really does sound like a must read book.

The brilliant Julia Davis has a new series airing on TV, trouble is it's on Sky Atlantic, and i haven't got that. Oh well i suppose we'll have to find a way around that.

The gimps, is the end nigh ?

Fergie backs the wrong horse in Glazer affair, scandalous barely covers this attempted IPO. It was backing the wrong horse, the Rock of Gibraltar and Coolmore horse spunk bollocks, where this whole sorry affair started. Fergie was way out of his depth in the world of big money that time as well. Jim White has been fairly soft on him in that blog, if the Glazer's are forced to sell up, i doubt the rest of the press corps will be son lenient with him, a few knives may well be being sharpened as we speak.

It's been a bizarre week, firstly the announcement of GM's global marketing chief had been unceremoniously sacked, with rumours it had something to do with a deal clinched with United. Hours later United announced a new seven year shirt sponsorship deal with GM starting in 2015, with the current deal still two years outstanding. The next day it was reported he had been sacked for negotiating too generous a deal with United.

All the while the terms of the IPO were slowly being revealed to a United support versed in fearing the worst where our dispicable owners are concerned. Anger over the decision to award $150 million to Malcolm Glazer's descendants, instead of using the deal to remove a hefty chunk of burdensome debt, confirmed our worst fears. And as ever with every panicked financial manouevre to refinance the debt, more embarrasing details popped up.
The ray of sunshine on the horizon is the hope that the underwriters decide that they can't underwrite the IPO. This is where MUST and the hordes of Anti-Glazer protestsare now being directed over the next couple of weeks. Given the risible press the proposed IPO has received since the listing was announced on Monday, they have had a great start. Fantasy football, potential for scandal, a terrible investment, just google Manchester United IPO, MUST couldn't buy such good publicity for the cause.
It seems to be as unpopular over the pond in the states as it has been over here, needless to say that's highly encouraging. It's hard to get your hopes up to much, after everything that has happened since that sorry day they gained control, but it's fingers crossed time, and time to get those e-mails sent and hope that good triumph's over evil.

Patrick Collins 400 million reasons

Patrick Collins tells Fergie that he should have spoken out against the takeover in 2005 when he had the chance. There's no arguing with that, it's felt by many that if he had done so, the Glazer's would never have been lent the money to buy the club. Another reason why so many wonder why Fergie didn't do so, did the Glazer's hold out a pot of gold or was there dirt on him from the Coolmore affair. Will we ever find out, i hope so even if it tarnishes his reputation, it's not as if it hasn't been tranished by it anyway. I don't expect to hear him speak out against over marvellous owners any time soon, i'm not sure how he could without suffering a huge loss of face.

The Swiss ramble blog unpicks the Glazer's hoped for IPO and comes to similar conclusions to Andersred, in so far as attempting to start to reduce the debt is a positive to the club and an acknowledgement that it is hampering our ability to compete. He also makes the point that this is a risky strategy, in that the timing could have been better for them if they are to realise the hoped for valuation. Over the last few days it's also garnered the kind of press they would probably liked to have avoided, as their dodgier business practices have increasingly seen the light of day.

The MEN report that United have scrapped plans fo a singing section at United after a less than favourable police report on last season's experiment. The group behind the move went onto twitter to claim that MEN have go it wrong and it could still go ahead the season after next. But if any of the claims quoted, were in that report, i can't see the proposed move seeing the light of day. I'd love to see more atmosphere on match days, but i can't say i was mad about moving opposition fans up there. Like it or not a big away support is usually what helps to give a the home fans an incentive to get behind the home team. I know it didn't matter as much during the mid seventies and docs red army, but those days will never come back.

Iain Martin described last week as calamitous for George Osborne, which will have done huge and possibly irrevocoverable, reputational damage.I think we can say that this week Cameron has decided to join him on board ship half way under the water, Richard Morris describes the prime minister as the new John Major, a weak and defeated leader. As for Clegg, he is surely just living on borrowed time, unless the Lib dems have a collective death wish. Of course that's entirely conceivable, maybe the left will let the orange book right lead them to electoral carnage and rebuild the party from the centre left, post election. What will be left of the party to rebuild, must be the question. Iain Martin asks whether Clegg is a bit stupid ?
I saw David Laws on Newsnight last night and wonder how i voted for a party with him in it, he may have been right in accusing the Labour party of playing politics, but at least they did it reasonably successfully, i hate to say it but the Lib dems in government under Clegg and Laws have been politically inept.

 The stupid party in action, living up to that nickname

United's IPO to go ahead

It's interesting to read the 51 risk factors listed in the filing, the one that makes me puke most, comes first under the heading, risk relating to our indebtedness and reads our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial health and competitive position. Replace could with is and you will find the reason for the IPO in the first place.
The rest just spells out all we already know and loathe. And in the very week when we found out the financial system is as rotten to the core as some of us have suspected all along the have decided to move us from the dodgy tax state of Delaware to the off shore tax haven, the Cayman islands. Are we going down the Leeds United road.
Andersred tweeted last night that in his opinion this is good news, in that the debt that they have loaded onto the club and that we all knew was weighing down the club's ability to compete will start to be payed off. MUST went down that road in their intial response last night whilst noting the non voting rights of the new shares. It's hard to see why anybody would entertain buying that class of share, it seems the only way they would see a return on their investment is if the Glazer's sell the club, unless i have read it wrong. The banks will have their work cut out, of course Morgan Stanley did pull out of this after accusing the gimps of being greedy.

Apparently there has been talk of our Italian youngster Macheda being linked with a move to Turkey, he needs to go somewhere if he is to resurrect his career. I can't say i have ever really rated him, but it has to be said he hasn't had the best of luck with his loan moves. It doesn't say if the move would be permanent or if United are looking to loan him out again, but he probably needs to leave the club altogether and start again.

Rafael officially put pen to paper on a new four year contract with the club, as his brother Fabio officially announced a season's loan at premier league rivals QPR. I'm glad they picked another premier league club after the rumours linking him with Benfica, he needs to toughen up and play regular football, for that matter they both do.