Deal earns Irish pair £90m

Irish tycoons JP McManus and John Magnier made an astonishing profit of nearly £90million selling their shares in Manchester United to Malcolm Glazer.

The sale meant that he gains effective control of the club, in a move which caught directors at Old Trafford by surprise this afternoon.

Glazer, who has been the subject of a fierce campaign by supporters opposed to his takeover, agreed a deal with the racehorse-owning Irishmen to buy a controlling interest in the club and then captured the shares of Harry Dobson to give him an overall stake of 64 per cent.

The United board had been expecting Glazer to launch a formal takeover bid to all shareholders before obtaining the agreement of McManus and Magnier but after news of his share-buying success today a source at United said: "It's all over now."

Glazer secured a £225m deal with the Irish for their 28.7 per cent majority holding in Old Trafford. That gave him a 56.9 per cent controlling stake before he moved on the shares of Scottish mining entrepreneur Dobson.

Although he will now launch a bid for the rest of the shares, he is well in sight of the crucial 75 per cent needed to take complete control and the club recognise that they are now legally obliged to recommend the bid to all shareholders.

The news sparked immediate protests from supporters groups opposed to the takeover who have campaigned for nearly two years against the American businessman seizing ownership of the club.

Oliver Houston, from fans group Shareholders United, said Glazer would need more shares to get real control because he could be borrowing money to fund the takeover. English law prevents shareholders from getting financial assistance from a company to fund a takeover, he said.

Houston added: "He needs to get 75 per cent minimum to make this deal work.

"He has been stalking our club for the last six or seven months and it has been very disruptive. Just as we get to the end of the season with the FA Cup Final and hope to end on a high, we have this."

The takeover will also increase speculation over the future of many of the players at Old Trafford and manager Sir Alex Ferguson, whose side are 20 points behind champions Chelsea in the Premiership this season.