<P> The club went public in 1990 and was the subject of takeover bids from property trader Michael Knighton and Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB corporation before Malcolm Glazer's stake was announced in September 2003 . By the end of the year, Glazer had increased his shareholding from 3.17% to around 15%, which he almost doubled in the year up to October 2004 . His acquisition of John Magnier and J.P. McManus's 28.7% stake in May 2005 pushed his own up to around 57%, well over the 30% threshold that would force him to launch a takeover bid . A few days later, he took control of 75% of the club's shares, allowing him to delist the company from the stock exchange, and within a month, the Glazers took 98% ownership of the club via their Red Football parent company, forcing a squeeze out of the remaining 2% . The final purchase price of the club totalled almost £ 800 million . </P> <P> Most of the capital used by Glazer to purchase Manchester United came in the form of loans, the majority of which were secured against the club's assets, incurring interest payments of over £ 60 million per annum . The remainder came in the form of PIK loans (payment in kind loans), which were later sold to hedge funds . Manchester United was not liable for the PIKs, which were held by Red Football Joint Venture and were secured on that company's shares in Red Football (and thus the club). The interest on the PIKs rolled up at 14.25% per annum . Despite this, the Glazers did not pay down any of the PIK loans in the first five years they owned the club . In January 2010, the club carried out a successful £ 500 million bond issue, and by March 2010, the PIKs stood at around £ 207 million . The PIKs were eventually paid off in November 2010 by unspecified means . In August 2012, as part of further refinancing, the Glazers sold a number of shares in Manchester United in an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). </P> <P> Some Manchester United fans opposed Glazer's takeover of the club, particularly once they realised the level of debt that the club would have to take on after having been debt - free for so many years . Disgruntled fans launched the football club F.C. United of Manchester in 2005, which entered the North West Counties Football League and has played in the sixth tier National League North since 2015 . Since 2005, the Manchester United Supporters' Trust has been working on a way of returning ownership of the club to supporters; in 2010, they met with a group of wealthy Manchester United fans--dubbed the "Red Knights"--to discuss a billion - pound takeover bid . However, the bid fell through when the Red Knights refused to meet the Glazers' valuation of the club . </P> <P> Manchester United was formed as Newton Heath L&YR F.C. in 1878 by the workers in the Carriage and Wagon Works of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's Newton Heath depot . In 1901, the club was in over £ 2,500 of debt and facing a winding - up order; however, they were saved by local brewer John Henry Davies, who changed their name to Manchester United in 1902 . After Davies' death in 1927, the club fell into financial difficulties once again, but James W. Gibson stepped in as a new financial benefactor in 1931 . Gibson himself died in 1951, but while ownership of the club passed to his widow, Violet, control of the club passed to director and former player Harold Hardman . </P>

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