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Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer reportedly failed in his efforts to acquire a controlling stake in NWSL outfit Angel City.
This is according to The Athletic who reveal, “Avram Glazer, a part owner of Manchester United and a member of the Glazer family who retain a majority stake in the club, has failed in a bid to become the controlling shareholder of NWSL side Angel City.”
“Sources familiar with the discussions, who would not speak publicly owing to the sensitivity of the talks, confirmed that Glazer had pursued a stake in Angel City.”
“He has missed out, however, to the Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay, who are now close to purchasing control of Angel City FC.”
Semafor previously reported that Angel City is worth more than $300 million, making it the most valuable women’s sports franchise in the world.
Avram Glazer and his siblings recently made a huge profit following their sale of around 25% of United to INEOS billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The Athletic note that an SEC filing shows that each Glazer sold about 4.6 million Class B at a trading price of $33 per share. This means that they pocketed $909million in total, with each of them netting around $152m.
As part of his deal with the Glazers, Ratcliffe assumed full control of United’s sporting operations.
Iger and Bay would invest more than $50m to replace Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian as Angel City’s controlling shareholder.
As per The Athletic, “The club has three co-founding partners — Kara Nortman, Natalie Portman and Julie Uhrman — and dozens of smaller investors, including celebrities like Williams, Billie Jean King, Jennifer Garner, Eva Longoria and former USWNT stars Mia Hamm, Shannon Boxx and Julie Foudy.”
Avram’s failed bid for Angel City comes amidst criticism of United’s treatment of their women’s team.
A report covered by The Peoples Person relayed that The Professional Footballers’ Association were poised to “step in” to hold conversations with the Red Devils regarding their woeful management of Marc Skinner’s side.
This is after it emerged that the women’s team players were made to move out of their £11million state-of-the-art training facility at Carrington to make way for the men’s team during the upcoming 2024/25 season. The men’s team facilities are currently undergoing a revamp.
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