The bank and public relations firm advising U.S. tycoon Malcolm Glazer on his attempt to acquire Manchester United dropped him as a client on Friday, hours after he ousted three of the English soccer giant's directors, sources close to the situation said.
U.S. investment bank J.P. Morgan Chase & Co -- which had agreed to finance Glazer's bid -- and UK public relations firm Brunswick took the move after Glazer voted against the re-election of the board members during the club's annual meeting, they said.
"We told him that was the wrong thing to do. We made it clear that he would be doing this against our advice," one of the sources told Reuters.
"We categorically took this (job on) on the basis of this being friendly. Any aggressive action, we were not part of and we cannot support. We can't help him on this basis."
The bank and the public relations firm had no official comment. The source said J.P. Morgan might be persuaded to rethink its decision if Glazer were to "come back in a friendly way."
If not, Glazer may have to seek new advice and financing.
The move came after Glazer and his family, who own 28.11 percent of Manchester United, voted against the re-election of the club's commercial director Andy Anson and non-executive directors Maurice Watkins and Philip Yea earlier on Friday.
As a result, the three were ousted from the board at United's annual general meeting at the club's Old Trafford stadium, fuelling tension between the tycoon and the club.
A Glazer representative attended the AGM to cast his vote. Irish magnates J.P. McManus and John Magnier, who together form the club's largest shareholder with 28.9 percent, abstained.
Manchester United, the world's richest soccer club, said it wanted Glazer to clarify his intentions as quickly as possible after it had been in an "offer period" under UK takeover rules twice this year as a result of his actions.
The 15-times English soccer champions were stressed that no definitive bid proposal had ever been put to the board by Glazer, owner of American football's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The club called off talks with Glazer last month over his proposed offer for the team as the debt-free club said it would not support a bid that involved taking on a large amount of debt to finance a near 800 million pound ($1.47 billion) takeover.
The prospect of such a plan angered the club's fans as it would mean spending profits on paying interest on Glazer's loans, rather than investing in new players on the field.
The vote leaves Manchester United with just four directors, Chief Executive David Gill and Finance director Nick Humby and two non-executives, Chairman Roy Gardner, who is also chief executive of utility Centrica Plc, and Ian Much.
The club can appoint new directors as replacements, but they will have to come up for re-election at next year's AGM.
Of those voted off the board, Watkins is the club's lawyer and has been a major figure at the club over the last 20 years. As a big individual shareholder he came under criticism for selling some of his shares, which were bought up by Glazer in the open market.
Anson has been commercial director for only nine months and was appointed to exploit Manchester United's worldwide fan base, while Yea is well known in City of London financial circles, having been appointed chief executive of FTSE-100 index private equity company III Group Plc in July and a former financial director of drinks group Diageo.
The club said it was very disappointed with the outcome, which it said was not in the best interests of the company, and would discuss with its advisers its response to the failure of the re-elections.
Glazer had offered to buy the stake held by McManus and Magnier who own 28.9 percent of the club, but no agreement was reached between the two parties.
Under UK takeover rules, Glazer would have to launch a formal bid for the club if his stake rose to 30 percent.
(Additional reporting by Siobhan Kennedy)
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