http://www.money.telegraph.co.uk/
Sunday Telegraph (Filed: 16/01/2005) Man Utd boss pledges his own money to thwart Glazer's takeover ambitions By Andrew Murray-Watson (Filed: 16/01/2005) David Gill, the chief executive of Manchester United, has pledged to use his own wealth to defend the football club from any further takeover bid. In a controversial move, Gill has offered to donate a five-figure sum to a "fighting fund" set up by Shareholders United, a fans' organisation that has pledged to preserve Man Utd's independence in the face of any takeover offer, regardless of price. Shareholders United would use Gill's donation to buy shares in Man Utd. It would then use the equity stake to attempt to block a takeover. Although Gill's donation would not technically break any UK stock market listing rules, it could lead to accusations that he has compromised his ability to fulfil his fiduciary duty to maximise value for all shareholders in Man Utd. Nick Towle, the chairman of Shareholders United, has confirmed that Gill offered to make an undisclosed donation to its fund during telephone conversations held before Christmas. The conversations also included a discussion of Gill's plan to exercise more than �1m of share options. Towle said he was worried that Gill's shares would be snapped up by Malcolm Glazer, the US sports tycoon, who has a 28 per cent stake and has been looking for a way to buy the club in a leveraged deal for around �800m. Asked about Gill's offer of a donation, Towle said Shareholders United would be asking all the club's directors to make a donation once the fund has been finalised in March. Gill later sold shares worth �1.3m to Jim O'Neill, a non-executive director. An executive with links to Man Utd said Gill and his fellow directors would all "seek legal advice" before making any personal donation to Shareholders United. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/5iY7fA/6WnJAA/Y3ZIAA/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 Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/imusa/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
