Now we all know Elon tweeted about it in what he said was a joke, my investment thesis here has nothing to do with that.
Current $MANU market cap is roughly $2.2B, Chelsea recently sold for around $5B in a forced sale. Based on this alone the stock could double as the $MANU brand is more valuable than that of Chelsea, as they are the world's most popular football club.
Even better, the BBC and Bloomberg have reported that both British Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and Private Equity firm Apollo are interested in purchasing a stake in the club or even the entire club. This will require a hefty premium over current trading prices.
As well, option data on the stock is unquestionably bullish, with a Put/Call open interest ratio of 0.25 (4 calls for every put) and a Put/Call Volume ratio of 0.07 (14.3 calls bought for every put). Now of the $2.2B market cap, the stock only $689M (49M shares) free float, with the current owners (the Glazer family) holding the rest. This means that the stock can see explosive upwards moves on small trading volume.
As interest in an acquisition builds and solidifies, I expect to see explosive upwards moves in the stock as it gets on the radar of Wall Street merger and special situations arb traders and investors.
Would love to hear everyone's thoughts!
(Disclosure, I have a few hundred calls and a few thousand shares)
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