You were already warned if you are a 24/7 Wall St. read… The upcoming Manchester United initial public offering had all of the hallmarks of the Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) initial public offering. Certainly you noticed that this is past-tense. The FT is reporting that Manchester United is “delaying” its $300 million New York Stock Exchange IPO.
This is one where there are hundreds of millions of fans, it has a dual class of shares that gives the insiders ultimate control, it is highly visible, and it was not at all looking like a bargain for shareholders.
We just highlighted on Tuesday that the soccer team’s IPO had all of the same earmarks as the Facebook IPO. It is also one that looked as though investors were getting set up to get screwed all over again. There is nothing wrong with the soccer club itself, but the share structure (and perhaps the debt) is a different story entirely.
The markets are usually more than willing to take money from the unsuspecting. Think of the good news. At least this wasn’t a BATS IPO!
JON C. OGG
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