Reading the report about Man U debt on BBC and picked out this little gem:

"In January, Manchester United successfully raised £504m through a bond issue, meaning the Premier League club will be able to pay off nearly all their outstanding debts."

How is this possible?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8545662.stm

Don't know the ins and outs (fortunately) but think a bond issue is just a loan system? They've borrowed enough to pay off their present debts. Presumably the new debt somehow has more advantageous terms for Manure than the old one did.

It was a simple re-financing. The bonds were issued by MU Finance which used the proceeds of the £500m raised, along with cash balances of £30m, to repay existing senior debt of £507m, interest hedging liabilities of £8 and £15m of fees.

Essentially they're borrowing the same amount of money but on more flexible terms, the end result of which will enable the Glazers to start repaying the £200m of 14.25% PIK loans that their Red Football JV used to finance the purchase of Man Utd.

The group as a whole still has £700m+ of debt.

what he said

Basically, they'll pay less than if you went 35p overdrawn. When you owe that much, you're an asset risk, not a customer and it scares the poo out of the banks.

Good, I hope they go bang.