MANCHESTER, England—Red Knights, an army of green and gold, a plan to bring down an empire. It sounds more like the plot of a fairy tale than a proposed takeover of the world's most valuable sports, but this is the story behind a bid by rebel fans and a group of financiers to buy Manchester United.
A group of wealthy backers known as the Red Knights announced plans this week to wrest control of the English Premier League club from its American owners, the Glazer family. The consortium, which includes Jim O'Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Paul Marshall, founder of London hedge fund Marshall Wace LLP, has joined forces with disgruntled Manchester United supporters.
Who have ditched the team's famous red shirts in favor of the green and gold colors worn by the club until 1902 in protest at the debts imposed on the team since the Glazer family's highly leveraged takeover in 2005. It is an intriguing tale, to be sure, but one that seems increasingly unlikely to have a happy ending for the rebels after David Gill, the Manchester United chief executive, Wednesday reaffirmed the Glazers have no intention of selling the Premier League club.
"The owners are long-term investors, they want to keep the club for many years to come," he said at the Soccerex business convention here. "These Red Knights can put a plan together, but unless the owners want to sell, and they've given no indication that is the case, then they can't buy the asset. It's not for sale."
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