Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros has bought nearly 8% of the listed shares of Premier League soccer club Manchester United,
the
Financial Times
reported.
He acquired the stake via Quantum Partners, the investment arm of his family office.
Soros is now one of the club’s largest shareholders after the Glazer family, the article said. Quantum bought the stake for about $43.4 million, according to the report.
The IPO raised an estimated $233 million, about have of which went to the Glazer family, the report noted. The Glazers bought the club for $1.25 billion in 2005. The IPO had originally been expected to raise as much as $330 million.
The
FT
report noted:
Interest from many institutional investors has remained thin as the shares pay no dividend. Another turn-off may be Manchester United’s dual-class share structure, which enables the Glazer family to retain control through shares that have 10 times more voting power than the publicly traded class A shares.
(Source:
Financial Times,
Aug. 21, 2012.)
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