Avram Glazer to sell over £70m of his shares in Manchester United

Manchester United have announced that co-chairman Avram Glazer is selling five million of his ‘Class A Ordinary Shares’ in the Old Trafford club, which are believed to be worth over £70m at current value.

It has also been confirmed that none of the proceeds from selling the shares will go to United.

Avram is one of the six Glazer family members who owns shares in United, all of whom are children of the late Malcolm Glazer, who completed a controversial leveraged buyout takeover in 2005.

Glazer Sr. passed away in 2014 without ever having set foot in Manchester and his shares were divided among his six children. Avram and brother Joel serve as co-chairman, while Kevin, Bryan, Edward and Darcie are currently non-executive directors on the board.

It is only Avram and Joel who have had any real involvement with United over the last 16 years and it is the latter who remains in closest contact with the club’s operations.

Joel recently accepted the NFL's iconic Vince Lombardi trophy after Super Bowl LV on behalf of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is the family’s famous other sporting venture.

The Times explains that selling the five million shares being offered will see Avram Glazer’s personal stake in the club fall to just under 11%. The Glazer family as a whole will still retain 75% of the overall shares, falling from 78%.

It is also said there are no plans from any of the other Glazer siblings to sell any shares, while Avram is not intending to sell any more than the initial five million.

Based on the current share price Avram would expect to receive, although there is no guarantee as the share price could fluctuate, United’s total worth on the stock market stands at £2.383bn. That is around three times the initial £800m valuation of the club at the time of the 2005 takeover.

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