Reds chief defiant Kevin Feddy MANCHESTER UNITED bosses sought to dampen takeover talk today when chief executive David Gill told shareholders: "We don't want a sugar daddy."
The club has been at the centre of feverish bid speculation following stake building by a number of hugely wealthy individuals, such as Irish racehorse owners J P McManus and John Magnier, American tycoon Malcolm Glazer, and Dutch media mogul John de Mol. It has been further fuelled by Roman Abramovich's takeover of Chelsea FC, leading to rumours that other Russian oil tycoons are circling the Old Trafford club. Addressing his first annual shareholders' meeting since taking over from Chelsea-bound Peter Kenyon, Mr Gill said the club did not have and did not want a sugar daddy. Meanwhile chairman Roy Gardner said: "We are regularly in touch with our major shareholders and have not received any indication that they are anything but long term value investors. "We have received absolutely no approaches from any parties regarding a planned takeover bid. We are doing everything we can to understand the intentions of these major investors." Mr Gardner added that the board has requested a meeting with Mr Glazer and remains confident of seeing him in the near future. The chairman also said: "If the board were to receive a valid bid, we would have a duty to consider it, but we are not in that position." Hundreds of shareholders attended today's meeting at Old Trafford. Oliver Houston, spokesman for the Shareholders United group, urged the board to resist any takeover attempt. Shareholders United was formed five years ago to fight BskyB's bid. Mr Gill told shareholders a total of 2.6million replica United shirts have been sold in 58 countries in the past year as the club continues its attempts to strengthen itself as a global brand and turn fans into customers. Mr Gardner said the club was appealing against a fine imposed by the Office of Fair Trading for alleged price fixing. The appeal is due to be heard early next year, he said. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/GtUolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Please use [EMAIL PROTECTED] for general discussion. To unsubscribe send a blank message (from the email account in question) to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Join as a full member of IMUSA today: http://www.imusa.org/join.htm Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
