The world's most popular sports team is getting ready to list its stock on the world's largest exchange. British soccer club Manchester United priced its initial public offering at $14 per share Thursday. That's below the $16 to $20 per share price range that had been widely anticipated. The stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday as Manchester United tries to pay off more of the heavy debt piled on the club in its 2005 takeover. The 134-year-old club, with a record 19 English championships, is one of the most well-known teams on the planet, so the IPO is highly anticipated. But some analysts say the debt-ridden team is overvalued and the offering is dependent on investors wearing their fan colors rather than their financial thinking caps.
"It's really trading on the level of fan interest as opposed to any sort of financial interest," said Sam Hamadeh, CEO of PrivCo LLC, which researches privately held companies. "A winning team does not make a winning investment." Half the 16.7 million shares are being sold by the team, and half by the team's owner, a company controlled by the Glazer family. The team expects to get $141 million out of the deal, which it will use to pay down debt. About 10 percent of the team's shares are being sold.
