Probe unearths mystery Man U shares

A DAILY MAIL investigation into Manchester United shareholdings has yielded a mystery cache of shares holed up in a Swiss bank account.

The club, which is the subject of takeover speculation, has sent out a large number of 212 notices over the past six weeks. These force share custodians to reveal the beneficial owners of shares they hold on behalf of customers.

Minority shareholder Cubic Expression, run by Irish horse racing investors JP McManus and John Magnier, holds its 23.1% stake at Geneva's Lombard Odier bank. But Lombard is also holding approximately 1.6m shares for another investor. The club believes this 0.6% stake to be unrelated to Cubic Expression.

With much of United shareholding concealed in such nominee accounts, the club faces a battle in identifying the owners.

Company secretary David Beswitherick said: 'More and more, the [ultimate shareholder] is not the beneficial owner.'

Anonymous buyers need cross only a 'low threshold' on share ownership before United attempts to determine identity, said Beswitherick declining to specify that threshold. 'That's why we send out more than the normal number' of 212 requests, he added.

The Mail also discovered that fund manager Invesco picked up more than 2.6m shares last month, nearly 1% of issued capital. The shares are not believed to be linked to any stakebuilding.

Leeds deputy chairman Allan Leighton could announce today the injection of £2m to stave off administration.

The club brushed off suggestions that Bahraini Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Khalifa may be planning a rescue bid if he can raise the cash quickly enough.

After rising 3/4p to 4 3/4p, Leeds was worth £16m yesterday. However, any buyer would inherit £80m in debts. Al-Khalifa hired advisers last night.