LONDON (AFP) - US sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer could launch a takeover bid for English football giants Manchester United this week after securing financing and making contact with the club's largest shareholders, newspapers here reported.
US investment bank JP Morgan has pulled together the funding for a 300 pence per share offer for Manchester United, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
Glazer, owner of NFL franchise Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the second-largest shareholder in United with a 19.2-percent stake, could launch a bid this week if he can win the support of Irish racing tycoons JP McManus and John Magnier, who together own 28.9 percent of the football giants, it added.
The bid would value the club at 786 million pounds (1.14 billion euros, 1.41 billion dollars).
The Sunday Times reported that McManus and Magnier were willing to sell their stake if offered more than 300 pence per share.
It said Glazer's son, Avi, who had made preliminary contact with the Irish duo on Thursday and was expected to return with a concrete proposal this week.
It quoted an unnamed source close to the Irish pair as saying: "We will not sell unless we are made a silly offer, and that means 300 pence-plus.
"We spent four years building up the shareholding. You can probably assume that we have built our stake up to entirely where we want it to be."
Manchester United confirmed on October 4 that it had received a preliminary takeover approach, which is widely believed to be from Glazer.
Many of the English football giants' fans have reacted angrily to the prospect of Glazer seizing control of their club.
Newspapers reported that a public relations company advising Glazer had been hit by a "dirty tricks" campaign, including a blitz of offensive emails and phone calls.
Irate fans have also arranged for taxis, pizzas and plumbers to turn up on the door of PR firm Brunswick, and even placed an advert for cheap holidays in a magazine with the company's telephone number, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
"This is not something that we have had to coordinate. These are spontaneous acts: fans want to do something," it quoted Oliver Houston of Shareholders United, a supporters group, as saying.
"Brunswick and Glazer don't appreciate what they have taken on. And this is only week one."