Nick Train’s holdings in two of the football clubs that have agreed to participate in a breakaway European super league dropped sharply on Tuesday as markets digested widespread backlash to the proposal.
On Sunday, 12 of the richest and most successful football teams from across Europe announced plans to form a European Super League in which they would compete against each other outside of their domestic competitions and at the expense of existing pan-European tournaments the Champions League and Europa League.
Risks damaging the ‘game we love’
The proposals were met with outrage from across the spectrum, from politicians, including Boris Johnson, through to TV pundits, players, football fans and even the Duke of Cambridge, who all think the move is motivated by greed and money at the expense of legitimate sporting competition and gaining success on merit.
A tweet from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Twitter account, signed ‘W’, said: “I share the concerns of fans about the proposed Super League and the damage it risks causing to the game we love.”
Boris Johnson was set to meet on Tuesday with representatives of the Football Association, Premier League and fan groups to discuss the plans, having said he “doesn’t like the look of these proposals”.
Lindsell Train holds Manchester United and Juventus
Train’s fund boutique, Lindsell Train Limited, owns two of the 12 football clubs involved – Manchester United which plays in the English Premier League and Italy’s Juventus which competes in Italy’s Serie A league.
According to FT markets data, as at 31 December 2020 Lindsell Train Limited owned 29.7% of Manchester United’s issued share capital and 11.3% of Juventus’s.
Morningstar data shows Manchester United to represent 1.6% of the Lindsell Train UK Equity fund, worth £109m, while the stock has a 1.4% position in the Finsbury Growth and Income portfolio.
Juventus occupies a 1.1% position in the Lindsell Train Global Equity fund, which is run by Train and Michael Lindsell, accounting for £90.4m.
A game of two halves
Shares in the two football teams rallied on Monday on the prospect of the additional revenue associated with the new league such as TV rights. The share price of Manchester United, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, climbed 16% on Monday, while Juventus’ climbed 18%.
But on Tuesday both share prices dropped sharply as markets reacted to the uproar over the highly contentious proposals.
Manchester United was down 3.5% shortly after the stock exchange opened, while Juventus’s share price closed the day down 4.2%.
Lindsell Train declined to comment.
Train added to his Manchester United holding in Q2 last year amid a £67.7m splurge on sports and entertainment stocks, despite the pandemic hitting the broadcasting and ticketing revenue of the club.
As well as Manchester United, English teams from the Premier League in the frame for the super league include Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.
