Glazer faces stinging interest rates

Malcolm Glazer has a window of three years between May 2007 and the summer of 2010 during which he will be forced to refinance Manchester United, his official takeover document reveals.

The group of three hedge-fund investors who put up £275m of the £790m required by Glazer to seize full control of the club have imposed special terms whereby the owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have to pay a special penalty charge if he buys the hedge funds out within two years. Similarly, these investors will win special rights over Glazer's shareholding in Manchester United unless he has paid them back in full - and with interest - by August 2010.

Red Football, Glazer's acquisition vehicle, published a formal bid document yesterday which highlights the burden Glazer is taking on, with £265m of core debt, a £19m bridging loan due to be repaid in less than a year, a £50m loan for working capital and then a £50m facility earmarked for "capital expenditure".

Much of the debt carries an annual interest bill of 8% - compared with a typical mortgage rate of 6.5% in Britain - and £85m of the money raised by Glazer will cost him a stinging 11.5% a year. The interest rates revealed are higher than had been suggested.

United have offered Roy Carroll a new contract, meanwhile, ending months of wrangling and suggesting they are ready to gamble on him and Tim Howard, the United States goalkeeper who signed a two-year extension last week. "I would imagine we would be in a position to get it finalised and signed before Roy goes on holiday at the end of the week," said his agent Francis Martin.