What happened
The excitement and fanaticism that often accompanies sports teams rarely translate into stock market success. Few teams ever list on the stock exchange, and when they do, investors tend not to show much interest.
That wasn't quite the story with U.K. soccer team and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed stock Manchester United (MANU 0.06%) on Thursday. Shares of Man U's namesake operator rose by nearly 7% on the day on fresh takeover speculation.
So what
Reuters published a report stating that Manchester United is in talks to sell itself for over $6 billion. The news agency, citing unidentified "people familiar with the matter," said that the team's operator's negotiating counterparty is a consortium led by Qatari Sheik Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, to which it has granted exclusivity in the talks.
Currently, the market cap of Manchester United's NYSE-listed stock is a touch over $4 billion.
The company is currently controlled by notable American investor Malcolm Glazer and his family. Other would-be buyers have shown interest in acquiring it, including U.K. businessman Jim Ratcliffe. According to Reuters, since the al-Thani consortium holds exclusive negotiating rights, for the moment, no other entity can negotiate to purchase the club.
Now what
Sports teams might not be so hot with the market, but rich, individual investors sure love to get their hands on them -- and are willing to pay very handsomely for the privilege. That $6 billion-plus price point could provide a great deal of upside on Manchester United's current stock price, so developments in those sale negotiations should be watched carefully.
