Irish millionaires build Man Utd stake

Two Irish racehorse magnates seized nearly a quarter of Manchester United on Tuesday by buying TV firm BSkyB's stake in the English soccer champions, but a source close to the deal said they did not plan a bid.

Manchester United confirmed a Reuters report that Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB sold its 10 per cent share of one of the world's richest soccer clubs to Irish racing millionaires J.P. McManus and John Magnier, taking their stake to 23.15 per cent.

The 62 million pounds ($104 million) deal fed talk that United could fall prey to a bid, as did London rivals Chelsea, and shares in the club raced to a three-year high.

McManus and Magnier's shareholding is worth 150 million pounds -- dwarfing the 60 million pounds Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich spent buying Chelsea. But a source close to Tuesday's transaction said there were no plans for a takeover.

McManus and Magnier's investment vehicle Cubic expression declined comment. Both men have been close associates of United manager Alex Ferguson, but newspapers have recently reported tensions between Magnier and Ferguson over their jointly owned champion racehorse Rock of Gibraltar.

Manchester United shares jumped as much as 8.5 percent. At 1120 GMT they stood 5.1 percent higher at 247 pence, valuing the club at around 600 million pounds.

"They are definitely in play now," said Stan Lock, broker at private client stockbroker Brewin Dolphin.

CLEAN EXIT

BSkyB offloaded its 26 million shares in Manchester United for 239 pence each. The deal ends the broadcaster's involvement with the club that it was blocked by regulators from buying for 240 pence a share in 1999.

Takeover rumours have intensified around Manchester United since Abramovich bought London rivals Chelsea and began pouring more than a hundred million pounds into buying star players.

Investors including U.S. sports magnate Malcolm Glazer, owner of Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the billionaire behind reality TV show "Big Brother" John de Mol have been gradually building their stakes in United, although the club has insisted there have been no bid talks.

"The Russians are still in the background, the American is still picking them up, and now it looks like the Irish picking them up. It could be a free-for-all," Lock said.

Behind new top shareholders McManus and Magnier, Scottish mining millionaire Harry Dobson has around 6.5 percent, Glazer has 5.9 percent, hedge fund Lansdowne Partners has 5.2 percent and de Mol has 3.5 percent.

Manchester United shares have raced ahead since hitting a low of 85 pence last November. Analysts said BSkyB had timed its exit well, and added the move was no surprise given it was blocked from bidding for the club.

"They're out clean at a good price. There was no use in them holding them apart from as an investment, and not long ago the shares were at 90p, so to get out at 239p is not bad," said Brewin Dolphin's Lock.