Latham and Slaughters lead on new Man Utd stadium

‍Latham & Watkins and Slaughter and May have taken lead roles on the development of Manchester United’s new 100,000-seater stadium, set to become the UK’s largest sporting arena.

The club announced this week it had acquired the majority of the land needed for the new stadium from Blackstone portfolio company Indurent, the first major move since the vision for a new stadium was first announced in March 2025.

The 25-acre site is located near the current stadium and will form part of a wider 370-acre regeneration project across the Old Trafford area, which is expected to deliver 15,000 new homes and create 90,000 jobs, adding £7 billion to the UK economy.

Advising

Latham & Watkins is advising Manchester United on the structuring and financing of the stadium, led by London managing partner Ed Barnett. The team includes New York capital markets partners Marc Jaffe and Ian Schuman, London sports partner Patrick Mitchell, London structured finance partner Sanjev Warna-kula-suriya, and finance partners Conrad Andersen and Manoj Bhundia.

Latham is no stranger to working with top sports teams - it advised the Red Devils on Jim Ratcliffe’s 2024 acquisition of a minority stake in the club, a consortium of investors on the acquisition of a majority stake in Scottish team Rangers and Apollo Sports Capital on its minority stake in Wrexham AFC.

Slaughter and May - which was on the other side of the table when Ratcliffe became part-owner - is advising the premier league club on early-stage construction and procurement matters according to The Lawyer. The firm also recently advised Everton on construction and financing aspects of its new Hill Dickinson Stadium, and acted for Crystal Palace on its stadium redevelopment project at Selhurst Park.