US Edition 
Glazer family will not use Manchester United reserves to pay off £220m PIK loans
The Glazer family have confirmed that cash from Manchester United's reserves has not been removed from the club, meaning it is unlikely that it will be used to pay off £220m in high-interest payment-in-kind loans.
In a 19-word statement accompanying the release of a quarterly financial update to bond holders released this morning the club's holding company Red Football Group said: “The Board notes recent press speculation. The Board can confirm that there has been no dividend of Club cash.”
The Glazer family is understood to be preparing to pay off around £220 million in high-interest 'payment-in-kind’ loans borrowed to fund the purchase of Manchester United.
In a letter to PIK lenders yesterday Joel Glazer said that the family intend to pay down all the PIK debt next Monday. The source of the funds they will use to pay off the loans remains unclear.
In a document known as a voluntary free-payment notice issued to the holders of the loans Manchester United’s holding company Red Football Joint Venture Limited commit to “repay 100 per cent from the outstanding loan on Nov 22”.
“I can’t speak for any other club but the United fans should not be concerned,” United chief executive David Gill said last night.
“We have a long-term financing structure in place, excellent revenues that are growing, we are controlling our costs and we can afford the interest on our long-term finance.”
As if to emphasise Gill's confidence in the continued health of United as a day-to-day business, three monthly results released today in line with the £500m bond issue showed turnover continuing to rise, especially in the commercial sector, and the debt reducing, albeit marginally.
But this has not appeased the supporters groups who have been so opposed to the Glazer family since their controversial takeover in 2005.
The payment-in-kind loans, which have been accruing interest at up to 16.5 per cent since the Glazers bought the club in 2005, have been one of the principal causes of concern among supporters opposed to the Americans’ ownership of United.
There has been long-standing concern among supporters that the Glazers would raid the club’s reserves to pay off the PIK loans.
Duncan Drasdo, chief executive of Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST), responding to the news, said: "Now is the time for the Glazers to finally come clean and tell the truth about what is going on at Manchester United and what their plans are.
"What have they got to hide? No more secrecy. No more spin. Just tell the fans the truth."
There have been suggestions in recent weeks that the Glazers were troubled by the implications of the sale of Liverpool for a valuation of just £300million.
Even allowing for the distressed nature of the Liverpool sale to NESV the sale indicated that United may be less worth than the £1 billion plus valuation the family have always put on it.