UK newspaper, The Telegraph, reports that Irish-American fund manager, Ellis Short, is understood to own more than 30 per cent of the club after being invited to take advantage of a summer rights issue. Along with his fellow investors, the businessman is thought to have injected £30 million into the club's summer transfer fund. In addition, Short has also agreed to underwrite a two-year business plan that allows chairman Niall Quinn to open negotiations with manager Roy Keane over a new contract. His current deal expires at the end of the season.
Short is co-founder of Lone Star Funds, a private equity house. He was the subject of an arrest warrant by the South Korean authorities in 2003 in relation to the purchase of the Korea Exchange Bank, but all charges were dropped last year.
