McManus floats over United takeover tales

JP McManus refused to comment yesterday on reports that he is planning a takeover bid for Manchester United. The horse owner and gambler, also known to many racing punters as the Sundance Kid, was at Fairyhouse racecourse north of Dublin to see his mare Like-A-Butterfly score an impressive victory in the Royal Bond Novices' Hurdle.

Asked whether he, along with the Coolmore Stud joint-owner and fellow billionaire John Magnier, had designs on United he replied: "That's like asking me to play poker, then wanting to see my hand."

The response from United was "no comment".

Sky television, which was thought to have been negotiating with the pair, said it had "no current plans" to sell its 9.9 per cent share in the club. A Sky spokesman declined to say whether any such talks had taken place .

McManus and Magnier are known to be friendly with United manager Alex Ferguson and would want him to act as chairman, replacing Martin Edwards.

The new manager would be likely to be Martin O'Neill but not until his Celtic contract runs out the summer after next. In the meantime, O'Neill must prove himself in Europe and there could be an interim coach to fill the gap.

Ferguson is known to be an admirer of the Irishman. "He's a man you don't mess with," said Ferguson recently. "He's exactly the kind of man you need at a big club."

McManus and Magnier share that opinion. "Don't forget Coolmore have never put their trust in playboys," said an Irish racing source last night. "They may enjoy their company at dinner or on holiday but they don't give them the keys to their wallet."

McManus and Magnier have already built up a stake in the Premiership champions over the summer, making them the club's second-largest shareholders after Sky. It was suspected they were biding their time in the hope that the share price would continue to drop, although it is likely the rumours will send the price back up, making action in the short term unlikely.

The club is currently valued at £338 million sterling, down from the £623 million sterling that Sky was reported to have been prepared to pay for it in 1999.

Sky paid £2.40 sterling each for its shares and would want the same amount back but there is a complication in that, if McManus and Magnier take their holding above 29.9 per cent, City rules in England say they would then have to offer to buy every share in the club. They would also have to buy at the current price plus a premium.

In the conspiratorial world of Irish racing it has been hinted for months that big plans were afoot, since July's purchase of approximately 8.5 per cent of United's shares by Cubic Expressions, a company owned by McManus and Magnier and operating out of the Virgin Islands.

It is likely that McManus and Magnier will not be enjoying the current publicity. They, along with their partner, the Celtic chairman Dermot Desmond, are all men of huge wealth, daring and personal charm but they like to conduct business away from media scrutiny.

"They had a meeting last week after the Arsenal game and before the defeat by Chelsea and they decided then to slow the pace a bit," reported one Dublin insider.

"They've been happy to watch the United share price slip in recent weeks but they are determined to woo the smaller shareholders and they don't want to be perceived as just asset-stripping pirates. Their strategy is to put together the single biggest group of shares and the 9.9 per cent currently owned by BSkyB is likely to be their next target.

"They'll bide their time until the spring, if need be. They feel that the smaller players, in particular, will see that what they have to offer in terms of inward investment is too attractive to turn down. But when it comes to Edwards they want him out on their terms not his."

"Fergie's their kind of man," said a friend of both parties, "tough, honest and a winner, whose achievements have all come about through his own efforts. He doesn't talk to the press and they like that too."

Magnier may be an infrequent visitor to Old Trafford but McManus, also a hurling and Gaelic football fan, has been over with his son on several occasions.

Inspired by Desmond, McManus and Magnier have a vision of a Pan-European league with clubs selling their TV rights directly to the viewer rather than letting media organisations take half the profits. The pair are also hoping to buy the rights to broadcast MUTV in the Caribbean.