THE FINANCE:
* United belongs to America’s Glazer family, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League team, who bought the English champions in 2005 for nearly 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion). The club sits at the top of a web of subsidiaries but is ultimately dependent on a corporate entity based in Nevada in the United States called Red Football General Partner Inc. The Glazers have faced opposition from United fans after taking over the club in a leveraged buyout that left it saddled with hefty debt repayments.
* The club had planned a Hong Kong IPO in 2011 a $1 billion listing in Singapore before putting plans on hold because of market turmoil. It plans to use the money to go some way to paying off its debts, which as of June 30, were 437 million pounds ($682 million). Thursday’s IPO priced shares at $14, below the expected $16-$20.
THE CLUB:
* Manchester United Football Club was first formed in 1878 under the name Newton Heath LYR (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway). It first became part of the league in 1892. Ten years later the club was saved and renamed Manchester United by local brewery owner John Henry Davies. It moved to Old Trafford in 1910.
* Manager Matt Busby joined in 1945, initially on a five-year contract. He also founded the “Famous Five” forwards when he brought together Jimmy Delaney, Stan Pearson, Jack Rowley, Charlie Mitten and Johnny Morris. The FA Cup was also the club’s first major honour since winning the League Championship in 1911. Tragedy struck the young “Busby babes” in 1958 when the United aeroplane crashed on its way home after playing the second leg of a tie against Red Star Belgrade. Eight players were killed.
Busby defied the medics to recover from his crash wounds, the team, patched up by Jimmy Murphy, bounced back to reach the FA Cup Final in May 1958.
* Alex Ferguson, the most successful manager in British football history, joined in November 1986. He has won more than 30 trophies during his time in charge of the Reds. Manchester United has won 19 league titles from 1908 onwards, 11 FA Cups and three European Cups in 1968, 1999 and 2008.
* Jefferies Group Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are leading the U.S. offering for the soccer club, along with Deutsche Bank AG and Bank of America Corp. The club plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MANU.
