Manchester United is drawing up plans to shift its proposed initial public offering from Singapore to the US in a blow to Asian capital markets, which have seen a number of listing fail in recent weeks, according to people close to the situation.
The British football club, which was taken private by the US-based Glazer family after a debt-funded $790m purchase in 2005, had been planning to raise up to $1bn through a partial listing in Singapore since at least last August.
Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, which were expected to be the underwriters of the deal in Singapore, all declined to comment.
Manchester United’s apparent about-turn on its Singapore listing is another blow for the Asian IPO market, which has seen a series of listings pulled in recent weeks, including Graff Diamond’s $1bn offering in Hong Kong and Formula One, which is likely to delay a planned Singapore listing.
Manchester United also declined to comment.