Baron Funds Comments on Manchester United plc

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Oct 24, 2014

Manchester United plc (MANU) is an English Premier League professional sports team. The business had three principal segments: Commercial, Broadcasting and Matchday. The team has a global brand, with a proven history of success, having won 11 of the last 20 Premier League Titles. Soccer is now the second most popular sport among the 12-24 age group in the U.S., and Manchester United is among the most popular soccer teams globally. Manchester United has over 500 million fans worldwide and is positioned to benefit from greater broadcast fees and higher sponsorship and merchandising revenue over the next several years. The increase in broadcast, licensing and merchandising related revenues should generate substantially more cash flow and drive greater value to shareholders over the next several years. (Ashim Mehra)

From Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio)’s Baron Partners Fund Q3 2014 Report.