U.S. Market Lands Manchester United IPO

The most popular club soccer team in Europe will be going public on a U.S. market.

Manchester United, 19-time winner of the famed English Premier League, is moving ahead with IPO plans for the U.S. Exactly when the initial public offering will take place is unclear, but the fact that Man U. is going public on U.S. soil is major news. The soccer club canceled its plans for a $1 billion IPO in Singapore late last year.

Still, that Man. U. would go public on a U.S. market is not that surprising. The team is owned by American businessman Malcolm Glazer, whose family also owns the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Manchester United is the most valuable soccer team in the world. According to Forbes, the team is worth $2.24 billion – $385 million more than either the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Yankees.

The team is mainstream enough to even be a household name in America, which is historically lukewarm toward soccer. So it should garner plenty of hype in the States whenever the team holds its IPO.

Underwriters of the Man. U’s IPO will include JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) and Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF). It’s unknown what U.S. exchange the stock will begin trading on.