Manchester United bring in Swissquote as forex trading sponsor

MANCHESTER, England, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Manchester United (NYSE: MANU - news) have signed a deal to make Swissquote their global forex and online financial trading sponsor, the latest of a series of commercial deals agreed by the English Premier League soccer club.

United did not give a value for the deal, the club's first in the sector, but said on Monday it was a multi-year agreement.

The partnership is the latest struck by United, whose ability to grow revenues off the pitch has made them the second richest club in the world behind Spain's Real Madrid, despite a big downturn in their playing fortunes.

Once indomitable in the Premier League, the Old Trafford club has endured a tricky transition following the retirement of manager Alex Ferguson in 2013, finishing seventh last season and missing out on a place in the lucrative Champions League. This season the club sit fourth in the 20-team League.

Swissquote is a Geneva-based online trading company that allows retail investors to buy and sell foreign exchange, equities, bonds and other asset classes.

Like other retail FX brokers, the Swiss-listed firm was left with heavy losses on the Swiss franc after Switzerland's central bank stunned markets this month by abandoning its cap on the currency, driving up the franc's value by as much as 40 percent in the minutes that followed the shock decision.

The abrupt move put rival and West Ham United shirt sponsor Alpari UK into administration. Swissquote was forced to book a 25 million Swiss francs ($28 million) provision for its clients who were left out of pocket following the franc's surge.

($1 = 0.8910 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Andrew Winterbottom in Manchester, Neil Maidment and Jemima Kelly in London; editing by Keith Weir)