Manchester United Takeover
In 1989, Knighton made a takeover bid of £20 million for Manchester United. At the time, this was a record figure for a British football club and the offer was accepted by chief executive Martin Edwards. Knighton promised to invest £10 million in the team's stadium, Old Trafford, as well as re-establish the club as England's top side.
Knighton appeared on the pitch at Old Trafford before a game dressed in a full Manchester United football kit to publicise the takeover. Famously, he showed off his football skills by completing a long series of skilful "keepie ups". However, as Knighton's financial backers gradually pulled out, the deal eventually fell through. In retrospect, the purchase could have been one of the business moves of the century; Manchester United went on to grow as part of the football boom of the 1990s and a bid from Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB for £680 million was accepted in 1999 (though eventually blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission); they were later sold for £790 million in 2005 to Malcolm Glazer.
Read more about this topic: Michael Knighton
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