Aarghhh, not sure why I am blogging when I should be studying. But this matter had been bothering me for quite sometime and I think I should write something down in case I forget all about it after exams.
I read some letters in the Forum section of Straits Times Interactive and came across some letters which condemned a firm responsible for security of a condominium for apparently refusing to hire Indian security guards. The firm gave "past bad experiences" as the reason and some readers were unhappy about it. I think one of them called for some equal rights and opportunities act thing (not very good at this kind of jargon lah), citing some newspaper adverts being racists by saying "applicants should know Mandarin and English" blah blah that kind of conditions.
Firstly I think some perspective is needed. When firms give that kind of conditions, granted they may be discriminating, but others might have perfectly sound reasons for putting in those clauses. For example, if my business has a lot to do with China, then of course I am going to get someone who can speak Mandarin. If I have business in India, of course I will try to find someone who can speak one of the many languages found in India. That is just pure business logic, and might not be discriminatory. To just cite such clauses out of context adds unnecessary racial tension in my opinion.
Secondly, equal opportunities blah blah that kind of stuff is good. But we must be careful not to go down the slippery road of positive discrimination.
Vieira's comments on racism
The key line is at the end of the article:
'The English have been fighting against racism for 20 years - in all departments. When I switch on my TV in England I see black journalists presenting the afternoon or evening news. In France I do not.'
I do not know anything about the situation in France and for all I know it really maybe racism at work. But what I am worried about is that people might start to campaign for positive discrimination, i.e. giving a person something simply because he is a minority, not because of merit. Last year on the train to Lisbon for Euro 2004, an ang moh English fan told me that if I were to join the England fans' club, I would be certain to get a huge fraction of tickets, simply because I am a Chinese and the FA practises positive discrimination (he said it to me in hushed tones, not sure why also, not very PC to say it perhaps?). That is something I am worried about. The last thing I want if I am a minority is to be given something because I AM a minority, and not because I deserve it on merit. Anti racism means race does not matter right? Then why should I be given something BECAUSE I am a minority? Isn't that discrimination in itself? And I think it might be even more degrading than normal racism, giving others the impression that minorities need special help to succeed.
Equal opportunities yes, positive discrimination NO.
The last thing I am concerned about is the undertone of the various letters to the forum. I think 1 of the letters to the forum today which touched on racism ended off with something to the effect of "I hope next time when India becomes an economic power Singaporeans won't be punished for their racist attitudes towards Indians now...or take their money elsewhere and not come to Singapore" blah blah.
Example:
With economic growth gathering pace in the Indian sub-continent, the day may yet come when some of the high-rollers expected to create jobs for Singaporeans in our shining integrated resorts are from the very country whose people some here now treat in such cavalier fashion.
I just hope they don't vote with their wallets and simply go elsewhere to spend their hard-earned money.
Incidentally the writer is an Indian. Somehow the inclusion of those kinds of statements dilutes the whole message. We should not be racist not because India is going to be an economic super power next time isn't it? If so then why put in statements of those kind? And the fact that the writers are Indians themselves writing those kind of statements do not reflect very well on the writers themselves. It feels like me saying we should kow tow to mainland Chinese because China is going to be an economic superpower next time, i.e. my people are going to be great next time, watch out! Even if they do not mean it, those statements dilute the important message of stamping out racism because it gives the impression that the minorities themselves are racist in the first place.
Sometimes you really wonder, who are the real racists? In my opinion, there is no difference between a white man who beats up a black guy because he is black, and the black guy who runs off crying "racism" everytime when he does not get something.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Royal Mail reply
Dear Mr Toh,
Thank you for your enquiry about a missing International Signed For letter, reference number blah blah blah, sent to: Singapore
I have checked our records and it would appear that your letter went astray before being despatched from the United Kingdom. I can assure you we are most concerned when any loss occurs and I have therefore passed the details of this incident to our security people. They use this type of information to minimise instances of loss in our system.
In the circumstances, I am now in a position to settle your claim for compensation and therefore enclose a cheque for 7.05 pounds, which is a refund of the postage fee you paid, for a service we were unable to provide on this occasion.
I hope you will accept this along with my apologies for the concern and inconvenience you have been caused. If we can be of anymore help, please contact us again.
------------------------------------------------
Kan ni na be chao jibye, what the fuck do you mean by my letter went astray? Tsk tsk, naughty letter, why you run about? Simi lan jiao? Caused me so much trouble that day and make me cannot revise in peace...
Still I guess I should be thankful that the package got sent in the end. It could have been worse, it could still be lying in some red Royal Mail truck. And the postage turned out to be free in the end.
Moral of the story: If got precious items to send, don't use Royal Mail. Especially stuff that cannot be bought like what you handmade for example. Grrrrr...
Thank you for your enquiry about a missing International Signed For letter, reference number blah blah blah, sent to: Singapore
I have checked our records and it would appear that your letter went astray before being despatched from the United Kingdom. I can assure you we are most concerned when any loss occurs and I have therefore passed the details of this incident to our security people. They use this type of information to minimise instances of loss in our system.
In the circumstances, I am now in a position to settle your claim for compensation and therefore enclose a cheque for 7.05 pounds, which is a refund of the postage fee you paid, for a service we were unable to provide on this occasion.
I hope you will accept this along with my apologies for the concern and inconvenience you have been caused. If we can be of anymore help, please contact us again.
------------------------------------------------
Kan ni na be chao jibye, what the fuck do you mean by my letter went astray? Tsk tsk, naughty letter, why you run about? Simi lan jiao? Caused me so much trouble that day and make me cannot revise in peace...
Still I guess I should be thankful that the package got sent in the end. It could have been worse, it could still be lying in some red Royal Mail truck. And the postage turned out to be free in the end.
Moral of the story: If got precious items to send, don't use Royal Mail. Especially stuff that cannot be bought like what you handmade for example. Grrrrr...
Thursday, May 05, 2005
No goal!
From Sky Sports:
Confirms my initial suspicions that it was never a goal. But to me it was better for Chelsea because they would have conceded a penalty and had Cech sent off otherwise. The "Baros fouled Cech because his foot was high" argument from the Home United coach on ESPN is absolute rubbish. Baros was much quicker to the ball than Cech.
Anyway the performances by Liverpool and PSV showed that teamwork, preparation and tactics can get you a long way. That's the beauty of football. Talent can get you a long way but good preparation and tactics and teamwork won't leave you a long way behind either. Liverpool and PSV showed that on both nights and they did not roll over and die when faced with supposedly better teams in Chelsea and Milan.
No Jose, the better team did not lose. You had the more talented team but definitely not THE BETTER TEAM.
Wish I could write more but I really need some sleep now. Just hope that Milan's individual talent will triumph against Liverpool's teamwork though :S
Confirms my initial suspicions that it was never a goal. But to me it was better for Chelsea because they would have conceded a penalty and had Cech sent off otherwise. The "Baros fouled Cech because his foot was high" argument from the Home United coach on ESPN is absolute rubbish. Baros was much quicker to the ball than Cech.
Anyway the performances by Liverpool and PSV showed that teamwork, preparation and tactics can get you a long way. That's the beauty of football. Talent can get you a long way but good preparation and tactics and teamwork won't leave you a long way behind either. Liverpool and PSV showed that on both nights and they did not roll over and die when faced with supposedly better teams in Chelsea and Milan.
No Jose, the better team did not lose. You had the more talented team but definitely not THE BETTER TEAM.
Wish I could write more but I really need some sleep now. Just hope that Milan's individual talent will triumph against Liverpool's teamwork though :S
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Shareholders United Press Release
More, more, more!!!
From Shareholders United forum:
SHAREHOLDERS UNITED PRESS RELEASE.
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/
P. O. Box 146, Manchester, M16 8XW
2 May 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“IT’S HANDS IN POCKETS TIME”
There has been overwhelming public interest in the story in the Sunday Times yesterday about the proposal to set up a leveraged investment trust (LIT) for Manchester United (MU) supporters, backed with finance provided by Nomura International, the investment bank. Here is some clarification and further explanation of the plan.
Background
SU has attracted United supporters all over the world (27,000 members in 85 countries) to join the ‘independence’ campaign and to buy shares through the SU Share Scheme. SU members feel strongly about their club, strongly enough to want to get together and do something about it, even if that means buying just a single share. While SU does not have control of enough shares to itself to block Glazer or any other bidder, it is one of the supporters groups (along with IMUSA and the fanzines) which represents the feelings of the vast majority of fans who say loud and clear that their club is “Not For Sale”.
“Up to now, we have focused on getting the fans to act and to come together in opposing Glazer and other predators, and we have been very successful” said SU Chair Nick Towle. “But we have not so far come up with a vehicle to attract enough of the wealthier supporters, those who can afford a few thousand or even a few million, to invest in a collective stake big enough to protect the club from takeover, but who obviously would not want to see that investment lost or put at clear risk. We think that, with the proposed investment trust funded with leverage provided by Nomura, we have found that vehicle”.
How it works
The constitution and precise workings of the LIT have not been finalised, but SU is confident that with the backing of Nomura and other specialist advisers yet to be appointed, this trust will meet the expectations of the fans, the investors and those who provide it with funding. This is a new and relatively untested area for financings, a leveraged investment trust for supporter-shareholders of a football club, but Nomura undoubtedly has all of experience and expertise necessary for such cutting edge financing.
Step-by-step – the timetable
These steps are an outline of the process which SU considers needs to be undertaken to make the LIT effective – they have not been discussed in any detail yet with Nomura.
1. This week, SU is sending a letter to c.7,000 of the larger individual MU shareholders with >1,000 MU shares (Note: comprising somewhere between 10-12% of the total MU equity – as at 31.07.04) asking them to let us know whether they would be interested in participating in the LIT – recipients will be invited to respond by post or online at the Su website. The remaining 25,000 or so individual MU shareholders will be written to at a later stage.
2. SU will be canvassing its list of “red knights”, those wealthy United supporters (including some celebrity names in the business and showbiz worlds) who may be interested in taking part – we hope to be able to announce some names over the next few weeks. The net will be cast as wide as possible, even using some “business angel” databases we have access to.
3. Once we have gauged, together with Nomura and our advisers, that there is enough interest from shareholders and potential new investors in the LIT, the trust will be formally established and an offer document will be sent out inviting participants to commit.
4. The LIT will be a normal investment trust, except that it will be a single asset trust (i.e. the shares of MU which it acquires) – it will hold no other equity investments. For this reason, for regulatory purposes, the LIT will probably have to based offshore in a reputable banking & financial centre such as the Channel Islands. The LIT will have the power (i) to issue ‘units’ (or shares) in its own capital to those investors who pay for them in either cash or assets in the form of MU shares, and (ii) to borrow against those assets.
5. Participants who are existing MU shareholders (probably starting with a minimum number of shares, maybe 500 or 1,000), will exchange their MU shares for ‘units’ in the capital of LIT of equal value.
6. Cash investors (including red knights) will also receive ‘units’ in exchange for the cash they pay to the LIT. This cash will go to buy MU shares on the market for the LIT. [SU has looked into schemes to provide fans with personal loans to buy shares and already has one offer from a reputable finance house to fund up to £100 million in unsecured loans of up to £10,000 each for fans to buy shares, subject to status.]
7. The MU shares acquired by the LIT from these two sources will be ‘locked in’ to the extent necessary to protect the club from unwanted takeover, but in line with normal investment trust operating criteria.
8. Instead of being shareholders in MU, investors will be shareholders in the LIT which in turn owns the MU shares on trust.
9. The units issued by the LIT to investors will be traded on a secondary market, run by a market maker. Investors can therefore buy and sell their units at any time in the future – guaranteeing an ‘exit’, but without affecting the MU shares which will remain under ‘lock & key’ in the LIT.
10. The units in the LIT will also have a return on the investment, yet to be finalised. The dividend payable by MU to the LIT on the MU shares is available to pay this return, but there is also the requirement to repay the leverage provided to buy further shares (see below). We hope to be able to talk to the club about providing alternative special benefits to LIT investors in the form of rights to match tickets or seats in the Directors’ box and other similar investor perks.
11. The most important aspect of this LIT is the next part – for every £1 worth of MU shares acquired by the LIT, Nomura will lend a further £1 to the LIT which can be used to buy more MU shares in the market. “Double your money” or “twice the bang for your buck” – this is what is known as leverage, using existing assets to raise more funds. But this is a friendly leverage, as opposed to Glazer’s type of aggressive borrowing against the assets and revenues of the club. The terms of the leverage have yet to be decided, e,g, interest rate and repayment terms, and supporters will be keen to know how far the assets of the LIT (the MU shares) will be at risk if there is a default in repayment of the Nomura loans by the LIT. Again, we are relying on Nomura to come up with a satisfactory solution to these issues which are clearly sensitive ones for supporters, recognising that there has to be security for the loans and a return on the financing cost.
We hope that there will be enough interest in this plan to enable us to get to the desired 25% as quickly as possible, as this is the number at which Glazer’s takeover plan becomes impossible. With the leverage element, we would only need commitments from individual MU shareholders and cash investors of around 8 or 9% of the MU capital, which with the 2x leverage would give us 20% of the club (if you add in SU and SU members’ holdings).
SU Chair Nick Towle commented: “This is a very achievable and credible strategy and we urge all United fans, especially those with big money, to get behind it and get their hands in their pockets. The question all fans have to ask is: would you rather find the money to save your club and keep it independent, or hand it over to Glazer in increased prices for tickets, merchandise and facilities at Old Trafford?”.
SU Board
*Notes to editors:
SU is a not-for-profit organisation of United fans holding shares in United for emotional rather than financial reasons and who oppose attempts by Glazer or any other individual or company who wants to acquire Manchester United for profit. SU believes United should be independently owned, with supporters having a significant stake and a real voice in the running of the club. SU membership has risen to over 27,000 members since starting up 5 years ago.
SU is currently a company limited by guarantee, but is about to put a proposal to members to convert into an Industrial & Provident Society registered with and overseen by the Financial Services Authority.
From Shareholders United forum:
SHAREHOLDERS UNITED PRESS RELEASE.
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/
P. O. Box 146, Manchester, M16 8XW
2 May 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“IT’S HANDS IN POCKETS TIME”
There has been overwhelming public interest in the story in the Sunday Times yesterday about the proposal to set up a leveraged investment trust (LIT) for Manchester United (MU) supporters, backed with finance provided by Nomura International, the investment bank. Here is some clarification and further explanation of the plan.
Background
SU has attracted United supporters all over the world (27,000 members in 85 countries) to join the ‘independence’ campaign and to buy shares through the SU Share Scheme. SU members feel strongly about their club, strongly enough to want to get together and do something about it, even if that means buying just a single share. While SU does not have control of enough shares to itself to block Glazer or any other bidder, it is one of the supporters groups (along with IMUSA and the fanzines) which represents the feelings of the vast majority of fans who say loud and clear that their club is “Not For Sale”.
“Up to now, we have focused on getting the fans to act and to come together in opposing Glazer and other predators, and we have been very successful” said SU Chair Nick Towle. “But we have not so far come up with a vehicle to attract enough of the wealthier supporters, those who can afford a few thousand or even a few million, to invest in a collective stake big enough to protect the club from takeover, but who obviously would not want to see that investment lost or put at clear risk. We think that, with the proposed investment trust funded with leverage provided by Nomura, we have found that vehicle”.
How it works
The constitution and precise workings of the LIT have not been finalised, but SU is confident that with the backing of Nomura and other specialist advisers yet to be appointed, this trust will meet the expectations of the fans, the investors and those who provide it with funding. This is a new and relatively untested area for financings, a leveraged investment trust for supporter-shareholders of a football club, but Nomura undoubtedly has all of experience and expertise necessary for such cutting edge financing.
Step-by-step – the timetable
These steps are an outline of the process which SU considers needs to be undertaken to make the LIT effective – they have not been discussed in any detail yet with Nomura.
1. This week, SU is sending a letter to c.7,000 of the larger individual MU shareholders with >1,000 MU shares (Note: comprising somewhere between 10-12% of the total MU equity – as at 31.07.04) asking them to let us know whether they would be interested in participating in the LIT – recipients will be invited to respond by post or online at the Su website. The remaining 25,000 or so individual MU shareholders will be written to at a later stage.
2. SU will be canvassing its list of “red knights”, those wealthy United supporters (including some celebrity names in the business and showbiz worlds) who may be interested in taking part – we hope to be able to announce some names over the next few weeks. The net will be cast as wide as possible, even using some “business angel” databases we have access to.
3. Once we have gauged, together with Nomura and our advisers, that there is enough interest from shareholders and potential new investors in the LIT, the trust will be formally established and an offer document will be sent out inviting participants to commit.
4. The LIT will be a normal investment trust, except that it will be a single asset trust (i.e. the shares of MU which it acquires) – it will hold no other equity investments. For this reason, for regulatory purposes, the LIT will probably have to based offshore in a reputable banking & financial centre such as the Channel Islands. The LIT will have the power (i) to issue ‘units’ (or shares) in its own capital to those investors who pay for them in either cash or assets in the form of MU shares, and (ii) to borrow against those assets.
5. Participants who are existing MU shareholders (probably starting with a minimum number of shares, maybe 500 or 1,000), will exchange their MU shares for ‘units’ in the capital of LIT of equal value.
6. Cash investors (including red knights) will also receive ‘units’ in exchange for the cash they pay to the LIT. This cash will go to buy MU shares on the market for the LIT. [SU has looked into schemes to provide fans with personal loans to buy shares and already has one offer from a reputable finance house to fund up to £100 million in unsecured loans of up to £10,000 each for fans to buy shares, subject to status.]
7. The MU shares acquired by the LIT from these two sources will be ‘locked in’ to the extent necessary to protect the club from unwanted takeover, but in line with normal investment trust operating criteria.
8. Instead of being shareholders in MU, investors will be shareholders in the LIT which in turn owns the MU shares on trust.
9. The units issued by the LIT to investors will be traded on a secondary market, run by a market maker. Investors can therefore buy and sell their units at any time in the future – guaranteeing an ‘exit’, but without affecting the MU shares which will remain under ‘lock & key’ in the LIT.
10. The units in the LIT will also have a return on the investment, yet to be finalised. The dividend payable by MU to the LIT on the MU shares is available to pay this return, but there is also the requirement to repay the leverage provided to buy further shares (see below). We hope to be able to talk to the club about providing alternative special benefits to LIT investors in the form of rights to match tickets or seats in the Directors’ box and other similar investor perks.
11. The most important aspect of this LIT is the next part – for every £1 worth of MU shares acquired by the LIT, Nomura will lend a further £1 to the LIT which can be used to buy more MU shares in the market. “Double your money” or “twice the bang for your buck” – this is what is known as leverage, using existing assets to raise more funds. But this is a friendly leverage, as opposed to Glazer’s type of aggressive borrowing against the assets and revenues of the club. The terms of the leverage have yet to be decided, e,g, interest rate and repayment terms, and supporters will be keen to know how far the assets of the LIT (the MU shares) will be at risk if there is a default in repayment of the Nomura loans by the LIT. Again, we are relying on Nomura to come up with a satisfactory solution to these issues which are clearly sensitive ones for supporters, recognising that there has to be security for the loans and a return on the financing cost.
We hope that there will be enough interest in this plan to enable us to get to the desired 25% as quickly as possible, as this is the number at which Glazer’s takeover plan becomes impossible. With the leverage element, we would only need commitments from individual MU shareholders and cash investors of around 8 or 9% of the MU capital, which with the 2x leverage would give us 20% of the club (if you add in SU and SU members’ holdings).
SU Chair Nick Towle commented: “This is a very achievable and credible strategy and we urge all United fans, especially those with big money, to get behind it and get their hands in their pockets. The question all fans have to ask is: would you rather find the money to save your club and keep it independent, or hand it over to Glazer in increased prices for tickets, merchandise and facilities at Old Trafford?”.
SU Board
*Notes to editors:
SU is a not-for-profit organisation of United fans holding shares in United for emotional rather than financial reasons and who oppose attempts by Glazer or any other individual or company who wants to acquire Manchester United for profit. SU believes United should be independently owned, with supporters having a significant stake and a real voice in the running of the club. SU membership has risen to over 27,000 members since starting up 5 years ago.
SU is currently a company limited by guarantee, but is about to put a proposal to members to convert into an Industrial & Provident Society registered with and overseen by the Financial Services Authority.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Fuck tabloids, read proper newspapers
Yes yes I know some of you are bored to tears but all this takeover talk, but trust me, its way more interesting than my life right now. Unless you all want to hear about indifference curves, budget constraints, Phillips curves, monetary rules, CAPM, product life cycle theory, Microsoft, Who gains and who loses in free trade blah blah, then I will gladly oblige...
From Sunday Times:
May 01, 2005
Taken on trust
Jonathan Northcroft
A Japanese bank gives Manchester United fans a chance to send Malcolm Glazer packing and call the shots at the club
The Manchester United website is full of ways for fans to enmesh their lives with their club. Click here to get a Manchester United credit card, there for a personal loan. Follow this link to have Manchester United broadband piped into you home, that one to enter a competition for a visit behind the scenes at Carrington. No sporting outfit in Europe is so adept at getting people to pay for the illusion of involvement.
Yet supporters can now do something that would guarantee them a very real means to participate in United: they can call the shots at their club. Short of pulling on the red shirt itself, or assuming Sir Alex Ferguson’s place, it is hard to imagine anything beating that. Six weeks ago, The Sunday Times revealed a plan by supporters to buy a share of power at Old Trafford with the immediate aim of warding off Malcolm Glazer, but the long-term strategy of giving ordinary fans a veto over major decision-making at United in perpetuity. A common, and understandable, reaction was: nice idea but where will they get the money? Not for the first time, campaigning United fans are poised to confound expectation.
Shareholders United (SU) and the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association (IMUSA), the groups leading the fight against the American tycoon, have secured the backing of Nomura, the leading investment bank, which has agreed to lend them up to £100m to finance their scheme to acquire up to 25% of United shares and block Glazer’s take-over attempt. From Tuesday, United’s 30,000 individual shareholders, who account for an estimated 18% of the club’s ownership, will receive letters asking if they would be willing to join a new fans’ investment trust. This is aimed at creating a collective bloc of equity in the hands of supporters. Fans who have cash, but no shares, will also be able to join.
In a statement confirming Nomura’s involvement, agreed with the bank, SU and IMUSA said they “are in active discussions with the asset finance group at Nomura about ways in which supporter-shareholders can help build a collective stake in Manchester United plc and keep the club independent.”
Nomura are prepared to lend on a pound for pound basis, meaning that for every £1 of United shares or cash committed to the trust, the bank would offer to double it. Rather like a mortgage, the fans would then repay Nomura over a period of many years, using the annual dividends paid by United’s board to shareholders. One of the beauties of the scheme is that units in the trust will be tradeable so that fans needing to sell up could. It is hoped several “red knights” — wealthy United supporters who have expressed an interest in saving the club from Glazer — will join in with significant funds. Fans are appealing to high-profile United lovers, such as actors and pop stars, and perhaps even football figures such as Gary Neville and Ferguson himself, to come on board.
The supporters’ previous plan had been to acquire 25% through a “tender offer”, funded by many thousands of fans taking out personal loans. Now with a heavyweight like Nomura behind them, and the promise of a large amount of money at their disposal, the fans have suddenly become serious players. Everything rests on the response to their mailshot, which will particularly target the 7,000 individual United shareholders — including director Maurice Watkins — who hold 1,000 or more shares and account for around 13% of the club. Previously SU, with a 26,500 membership and definite control over 2% of the club, have estimated they could gain support from enough individual shareholders — many normal United fans who may have had shares in the family for years, or invested through love of their club — to take them up to 10%. Now they are about to find out.
“Our interest is in helping supporters protect the club from predators,” said Gary Wilder, head of Nomura’s Asset Finance Group. “However, we can only move forward if supporters show they are interested.”
Nick Towle, the SU chairman, said: “This is the moment of truth. We want all United supporter-shareholders, small or large, rich or poor, to get behind the trust and help keep the club free from predators.”
The fans’ actions come at a critical point in Glazer’s bid. Last Thursday the Takeover Panel issued him with a “put up or shut up” ultimatum, giving him until midday on May 17 to declare whether he intends to bid for United. The Florida tycoon, who owns a 28.1% stake, has been in talks over an £800m or 300p-a-share offer for the football club, but United chief executive David Gill and his plc board at Old Trafford have refused to recommend his business plan, describing it as “aggressive” and criticising the huge debt involved. A key to success for the tycoon is buying out the Irish racing magnates John Magnier and JP McManus, who hold a 28.9% stake but, contrary to some reports, it is understood Glazer has yet to talk to the Irishmen.
The fans want a 25% stake because anyone who wants to make a fundamental change to the running of a business requires a 75.1% vote to pass special resolutions at an EGM, and Glazer would need this to transfer the amount he is proposing to borrow — a large proportion of the further £540m he needs to buy United — to the club. However, SU are being advised that 10% is likely to be enough to foil the American. The minimum the fans need from their mailshot, which will be followed up by phone calls from a professional company acting for free, is a further 3% of shareholders to express interest in joining the investment trust. Added to SU’s 2% this would give them a starting block of 5% that could be doubled using Nomura’s money.
The supporters, who have been talking to the Japanese-owned bank for more than six months, with the full knowledge of the Takeover Panel and, latterly, Gill and his board, referred to the Nomura scheme as “Project Excalibur” in communications and correspondence.
SU have written to Magnier and McManus, begging them not to sell to Glazer and offering to buy a proportion of their holding. The Irish duo, through their vehicle Cubic Expression, have always claimed to be long-term investors and their refusal — so far — to jump at Glazer’s offer has delighted supporters who previously viewed them as profiteers. Others with United stakes, such as the Scottish mining magnate Harry Dobson , who holds 6%, are thought to be in more of a hurry to sell, and Dobson is someone the fans may target with an offer.
With 25% the fans could ask for a seat on the board but they would not have the power to make major football decisions such as setting the transfer budget or appointing a new manager.
“That’s not our interest,” said SU spokesman Oliver Houston. “This is not about taking control so we can make the club spend £40m on a new goalkeeper. We’d want to leave the corporate side to professionals like David Gill and the football side to professionals like Sir Alex Ferguson. We’re not luddites. We’re shareholders who also want United to make buckets of money — we just want the club to be independent and run in the right way.”
Nevertheless, 25% would give supporters serious weight when it came to issues such as ticket prices, the expansion of Old Trafford and, indeed, certain football affairs. With their similar stake Cubic were able to force an inquiry into United’s transfer dealings and influence a decision to reduce the length left of Ferguson’s contract.
Glazer, with 28.1%, has already been able to vote directors off the board.
United fans, who previously fought off Rupert Murdoch, have played a leading role in the growth of supporter power in England, and should they acquire power Houston hopes it would encourage fans at other clubs to do similar.
Pleading for United followers to commit to the new investment trust, he said: “Our need is great, the time is now. This is an opportunity we can’t let slip through our fingers. Over United’s 127-year history you think of all the defining events, the second world war bombing of Old Trafford, Munich, the first European Cup, the Treble in 1999 — without wishing to sound pompous, this could be another of them.”
SU will this week launch a fundraising drive beginning with the issue of 100,000 “MUFC: Not For Sale” wristbands which they hope to place on sale through major retailers such as Virgin, WH Smith and JJB Sports and perhaps even persuade United players to wear.
Towle added: “The trust will be active buyers of United shares within a short space of time and, as the trust grows, hopefully for the foreseeable future. If Mr Glazer is interested in selling his shares we will be happy to talk to him.”
For further information, see www.ShareholdersUnited.org
From Sunday Times:
May 01, 2005
Taken on trust
Jonathan Northcroft
A Japanese bank gives Manchester United fans a chance to send Malcolm Glazer packing and call the shots at the club
The Manchester United website is full of ways for fans to enmesh their lives with their club. Click here to get a Manchester United credit card, there for a personal loan. Follow this link to have Manchester United broadband piped into you home, that one to enter a competition for a visit behind the scenes at Carrington. No sporting outfit in Europe is so adept at getting people to pay for the illusion of involvement.
Yet supporters can now do something that would guarantee them a very real means to participate in United: they can call the shots at their club. Short of pulling on the red shirt itself, or assuming Sir Alex Ferguson’s place, it is hard to imagine anything beating that. Six weeks ago, The Sunday Times revealed a plan by supporters to buy a share of power at Old Trafford with the immediate aim of warding off Malcolm Glazer, but the long-term strategy of giving ordinary fans a veto over major decision-making at United in perpetuity. A common, and understandable, reaction was: nice idea but where will they get the money? Not for the first time, campaigning United fans are poised to confound expectation.
Shareholders United (SU) and the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association (IMUSA), the groups leading the fight against the American tycoon, have secured the backing of Nomura, the leading investment bank, which has agreed to lend them up to £100m to finance their scheme to acquire up to 25% of United shares and block Glazer’s take-over attempt. From Tuesday, United’s 30,000 individual shareholders, who account for an estimated 18% of the club’s ownership, will receive letters asking if they would be willing to join a new fans’ investment trust. This is aimed at creating a collective bloc of equity in the hands of supporters. Fans who have cash, but no shares, will also be able to join.
In a statement confirming Nomura’s involvement, agreed with the bank, SU and IMUSA said they “are in active discussions with the asset finance group at Nomura about ways in which supporter-shareholders can help build a collective stake in Manchester United plc and keep the club independent.”
Nomura are prepared to lend on a pound for pound basis, meaning that for every £1 of United shares or cash committed to the trust, the bank would offer to double it. Rather like a mortgage, the fans would then repay Nomura over a period of many years, using the annual dividends paid by United’s board to shareholders. One of the beauties of the scheme is that units in the trust will be tradeable so that fans needing to sell up could. It is hoped several “red knights” — wealthy United supporters who have expressed an interest in saving the club from Glazer — will join in with significant funds. Fans are appealing to high-profile United lovers, such as actors and pop stars, and perhaps even football figures such as Gary Neville and Ferguson himself, to come on board.
The supporters’ previous plan had been to acquire 25% through a “tender offer”, funded by many thousands of fans taking out personal loans. Now with a heavyweight like Nomura behind them, and the promise of a large amount of money at their disposal, the fans have suddenly become serious players. Everything rests on the response to their mailshot, which will particularly target the 7,000 individual United shareholders — including director Maurice Watkins — who hold 1,000 or more shares and account for around 13% of the club. Previously SU, with a 26,500 membership and definite control over 2% of the club, have estimated they could gain support from enough individual shareholders — many normal United fans who may have had shares in the family for years, or invested through love of their club — to take them up to 10%. Now they are about to find out.
“Our interest is in helping supporters protect the club from predators,” said Gary Wilder, head of Nomura’s Asset Finance Group. “However, we can only move forward if supporters show they are interested.”
Nick Towle, the SU chairman, said: “This is the moment of truth. We want all United supporter-shareholders, small or large, rich or poor, to get behind the trust and help keep the club free from predators.”
The fans’ actions come at a critical point in Glazer’s bid. Last Thursday the Takeover Panel issued him with a “put up or shut up” ultimatum, giving him until midday on May 17 to declare whether he intends to bid for United. The Florida tycoon, who owns a 28.1% stake, has been in talks over an £800m or 300p-a-share offer for the football club, but United chief executive David Gill and his plc board at Old Trafford have refused to recommend his business plan, describing it as “aggressive” and criticising the huge debt involved. A key to success for the tycoon is buying out the Irish racing magnates John Magnier and JP McManus, who hold a 28.9% stake but, contrary to some reports, it is understood Glazer has yet to talk to the Irishmen.
The fans want a 25% stake because anyone who wants to make a fundamental change to the running of a business requires a 75.1% vote to pass special resolutions at an EGM, and Glazer would need this to transfer the amount he is proposing to borrow — a large proportion of the further £540m he needs to buy United — to the club. However, SU are being advised that 10% is likely to be enough to foil the American. The minimum the fans need from their mailshot, which will be followed up by phone calls from a professional company acting for free, is a further 3% of shareholders to express interest in joining the investment trust. Added to SU’s 2% this would give them a starting block of 5% that could be doubled using Nomura’s money.
The supporters, who have been talking to the Japanese-owned bank for more than six months, with the full knowledge of the Takeover Panel and, latterly, Gill and his board, referred to the Nomura scheme as “Project Excalibur” in communications and correspondence.
SU have written to Magnier and McManus, begging them not to sell to Glazer and offering to buy a proportion of their holding. The Irish duo, through their vehicle Cubic Expression, have always claimed to be long-term investors and their refusal — so far — to jump at Glazer’s offer has delighted supporters who previously viewed them as profiteers. Others with United stakes, such as the Scottish mining magnate Harry Dobson , who holds 6%, are thought to be in more of a hurry to sell, and Dobson is someone the fans may target with an offer.
With 25% the fans could ask for a seat on the board but they would not have the power to make major football decisions such as setting the transfer budget or appointing a new manager.
“That’s not our interest,” said SU spokesman Oliver Houston. “This is not about taking control so we can make the club spend £40m on a new goalkeeper. We’d want to leave the corporate side to professionals like David Gill and the football side to professionals like Sir Alex Ferguson. We’re not luddites. We’re shareholders who also want United to make buckets of money — we just want the club to be independent and run in the right way.”
Nevertheless, 25% would give supporters serious weight when it came to issues such as ticket prices, the expansion of Old Trafford and, indeed, certain football affairs. With their similar stake Cubic were able to force an inquiry into United’s transfer dealings and influence a decision to reduce the length left of Ferguson’s contract.
Glazer, with 28.1%, has already been able to vote directors off the board.
United fans, who previously fought off Rupert Murdoch, have played a leading role in the growth of supporter power in England, and should they acquire power Houston hopes it would encourage fans at other clubs to do similar.
Pleading for United followers to commit to the new investment trust, he said: “Our need is great, the time is now. This is an opportunity we can’t let slip through our fingers. Over United’s 127-year history you think of all the defining events, the second world war bombing of Old Trafford, Munich, the first European Cup, the Treble in 1999 — without wishing to sound pompous, this could be another of them.”
SU will this week launch a fundraising drive beginning with the issue of 100,000 “MUFC: Not For Sale” wristbands which they hope to place on sale through major retailers such as Virgin, WH Smith and JJB Sports and perhaps even persuade United players to wear.
Towle added: “The trust will be active buyers of United shares within a short space of time and, as the trust grows, hopefully for the foreseeable future. If Mr Glazer is interested in selling his shares we will be happy to talk to him.”
For further information, see www.ShareholdersUnited.org
Monday, May 02, 2005
United we stand, divided we fall...
What the banner says:
Warning: Using MUFC may result in serious damage to your health
From Soccernet:
Bank comes to aid of Shareholders Utd
An investment bank have offered disgruntled Manchester United supporters a new means of combating Malcolm Glazer's takeover approach, according to a report.
United supporters are fearing an imminent formal bid from the American tycoon after he was set a deadline of May 17 to `put up or shut up' by the Takeover Panel.
They are aiming to prevent the tycoon obtaining the 75% of shares he requires to take a controlling interest.
The Sunday Times report that investment bank Nomura will back United fans to the tune of '100million, lending on a '1-for-'1 basis, with supporters trading in their shares for units in a trust held by Shareholders United.
For every '1 of shares or cash committed to the trust, Nomura would lend SU the same amount, says the report, allowing the supporters' group to create a war chest with which they could set about buying up further shares.
'Our interest is in helping supporters protect the club from predators,' said Gary Wilder, head of Nomura's Asset Finance Group.
'However we can only move forward if supporters show they are interested.'
Presently, minor shareholders - of whom many are supporters of the football club - are estimated to own 18% of United.
SU hold approximately 2% of shares, while Glazer has a 28.1% stake and the Irish businessmen John Magnier and JP McManus own 28.9% through their Cubic Expression investment vehicle.
Glazer has yet to win the support of United's plc board, who have to date refused to recommend his proposal to shareholders, stating that 'the assumptions in the Glazer business plan are aggressive'. Providing his banks stay on side, he is ready to offer 300p per share, a price which United's board recognise could have appeal, particularly to those shareholders without an emotional attachment to the club.
SU chairman Nick Towle said: 'It's reckoning time. We want all United supporter-shareholders, small or large, rich or poor, to get behind this trust and keep the club free from predators.'
Warning: Using MUFC may result in serious damage to your health
From Soccernet:
Bank comes to aid of Shareholders Utd
An investment bank have offered disgruntled Manchester United supporters a new means of combating Malcolm Glazer's takeover approach, according to a report.
United supporters are fearing an imminent formal bid from the American tycoon after he was set a deadline of May 17 to `put up or shut up' by the Takeover Panel.
They are aiming to prevent the tycoon obtaining the 75% of shares he requires to take a controlling interest.
The Sunday Times report that investment bank Nomura will back United fans to the tune of '100million, lending on a '1-for-'1 basis, with supporters trading in their shares for units in a trust held by Shareholders United.
For every '1 of shares or cash committed to the trust, Nomura would lend SU the same amount, says the report, allowing the supporters' group to create a war chest with which they could set about buying up further shares.
'Our interest is in helping supporters protect the club from predators,' said Gary Wilder, head of Nomura's Asset Finance Group.
'However we can only move forward if supporters show they are interested.'
Presently, minor shareholders - of whom many are supporters of the football club - are estimated to own 18% of United.
SU hold approximately 2% of shares, while Glazer has a 28.1% stake and the Irish businessmen John Magnier and JP McManus own 28.9% through their Cubic Expression investment vehicle.
Glazer has yet to win the support of United's plc board, who have to date refused to recommend his proposal to shareholders, stating that 'the assumptions in the Glazer business plan are aggressive'. Providing his banks stay on side, he is ready to offer 300p per share, a price which United's board recognise could have appeal, particularly to those shareholders without an emotional attachment to the club.
SU chairman Nick Towle said: 'It's reckoning time. We want all United supporter-shareholders, small or large, rich or poor, to get behind this trust and keep the club free from predators.'
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Futile struggle
Sometimes you just feel extremely helpless and that no matter how much effort you put in, the inevitable still happens...Lampard still scores...
Congrats to Chelsea, they have fully deserved the league title.
I hope Fergie forced everyone in the United squad to watch Sky Sports today. If the sight of Chelsea players celebrating doesn't motivate them to fight next year, nothing ever will.
I am a sore loser...
Congrats to Chelsea, they have fully deserved the league title.
I hope Fergie forced everyone in the United squad to watch Sky Sports today. If the sight of Chelsea players celebrating doesn't motivate them to fight next year, nothing ever will.
I am a sore loser...
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