As Manchester United takeover saga continues, Brera Holdings makes strategic investment

By James Rogers

Brera started purchasing Manchester United shares on the open market last week.

Dublin, Ireland-based Brera Holdings PLC has made a strategic investment in Manchester United, the Irish company announced Tuesday.

Brera has also invited Manchester United (MANU)'s board to a briefing on what Brera (BREA) describes as its "social impact football" business model. Starting last week, Brera began purchasing Manchester United shares on the open market, and its stake now exceeds over $100,000.

"We believe that our strategic investment in MANU at this time has potential for value creation and eventual realization, and we look forward to briefing their board on ways to achieve that," said Brera Holdings CEO Sergio Scalpelli, in a statement.

Related: Manchester United's stock slips as takeover saga rumbles on

MarketWatch has contacted Manchester United with a request for comment on this story.

Brera Holdings owns Italian amateur team Brera F.C., which made headlines in 2004 when it entered a team of detainees from a local Milan prison in Italy's Terza Categoria amateur league. The Irish company recently established Brera Tchumene, a team in the second division of Mozambique. In April Brera completed its 90% acquisition of Fudbalski Klub Akademija Pandev in the North Macedonian first division.

Shares of Manchester United Ltd. rallied 2.9% Tuesday after ending Monday's session down 4.1%. Brera Holdings' stock fell 13.3% Tuesday.

See (May 2023): Manchester United stock jumps on improved Sheikh Jassim offer

The protracted takeover battle for Manchester United is now in its eighth month. Sheikh Jassim, the chair of Qatar Islamic Bank and the son of a past prime minister of Qatar, and Jim Ratcliffe, the chief executive of the chemical giant Ineos, have made rival bids for Manchester United, which is currently owned by the Glazer family, based in Florida.

The Glazers took control of Manchester United in 2005. In November, they confirmed they were exploring potential financial investment in or an outright sale of the Premier League club.

Sky Sports has reported that the Glazers are looking for $7.4 billion for the famous club, which had a calculated value of $4.6 billion in 2022, according to Forbes.

-James Rogers

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-06-23 1246ET

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.