Man Utd may float in the States

MAnchester United has ditched its plans for an Asian stock market flotation and is preparing to list in the United States, according to sources with knowledge of the deal.

After first eyeing a Hong Kong IPO, the former Premier League champions had planned a $1bn listing in Singapore in the second half of last year before putting plans on hold because of market turmoil.

United declined to comment on the report.

The club’s American proprietors, the Glazer family, are well known in the United States as owners of American football team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as well as First Allied Corp, which owns and leases shopping centres.

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However, they have faced opposition from United fans after taking over the club in 2005 in a leveraged buyout that left it saddled with hefty debt repayments.

Adding to fans’ unease, United lost their Premier League title to Manchester City last month, a club bankrolled by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, one of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family.

As a result of its change of listing location, Manchester United is expected to make changes to its bookrunning syndicate for the deal.

Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley were originally mandated as bookrunners for the Singapore listing, but sources said this line-up might change.

Investment bank Jefferies has also joined the deal, the sources said.