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Post by rugbytoffee on Nov 23, 2022 18:47:57 GMT
Manchester United could reportedly be set for a new owner as Jim Ratcliffe is rumoured to be about to bid for the Red Devils after the Glazers put the club up for sale. The Ineos owner is one of Britain's richest men and already owns OGC Nice, and has been linked with a takeover previously.
The Telegraph claim that Ratcliffe will bid for the club after the Glazers formally put United up for sale, though the report suggests that he is wary of overpaying amid a rumoured £5billion-plus asking price.
Ratcliffe is a fan of United, and previously contacted the Glazers in August ahead of a potential takeover but his interest did not lead to a bid. An offer of over £5bn would be a world-record for a club, and he does have a history of working with broker Raine Group as he was credited with interest in buying Chelsea before Todd Boehly's firm took charge.
He reportedly was waiting for Chelsea's asking price to drop, hence his late interest in the London side, but is set to renew interest in Erik ten Hag's outfit after praising both Joel and Avram Glazer during previous negotiations.
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Post by rugbytoffee on Jan 24, 2023 19:35:51 GMT
The Glazer family are reportedly ready to sell their full stake in Manchester United rather than partial shares
Manchester United's owners are expected to sell the entirety of the club this year, according to the Daily Mail, after they announced last November that they would explore outside investment opportunities. The Glazers' asking price is understood to be around the £8 billion ($9.8bn) mark.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has already expressed an interest in buying Manchester United. He previously tried to purchase Chelsea before a Todd Boehly-led consortium beat him to the Stamford Bridge organisation, and the INEOS owner will also face intense competition for the Red Devils.
AND WHAT'S MORE: Any new ownership group would inherit a club now well removed from the golden Sir Alex Ferguson era but perhaps back on an upward trajectory under Erik ten Hag. United are among the best-supported teams in the world and would bring massive commercial opportunities to the winning bidder.
A formal bidding stage could reportedly begin as soon as three weeks from now, with Raine Group in charge of conducting the search for new owners.
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Post by rugbytoffee on Feb 8, 2023 16:53:11 GMT
A Daily Mirror report described the investors as "a group of private, high-wealth individuals" from Qatar, which hosted the 2022 World Cup.
United declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Manchester United's New York-listed shares jumped nearly 16.5% in premarket trading.
Bloomberg News reported last month that Qatar Sports Investments, which owns Paris St Germain, was considering either a total takeover or a stake in Manchester United or their rivals Liverpool.
QSI is a state-backed body founded by the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, but European football governing body UEFA has strict integrity rules regarding multi-club ownership.
No club participating in its competitions is allowed to "directly or indirectly hold or deal in the securities or shares of any other club".
In 2017, Bundesliga side RB Leipzig and Austrian side Salzburg were both cleared to play in the Champions League after UEFA said it was satisfied that energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull did not have a controlling influence in both clubs.
The Daily Mail report states the interested investors are separate from QSI and that the money will come from an "individual fund" rather than a sovereign wealth fund.
Jim Ratcliffe's company INEOS formally entered the bidding process to buy United last month after the club's U.S. owners, the Glazer family, said in November they had begun looking at options including new investment or a potential sale.
United fans have been clamouring for a change of ownership and the Glazers have been the target of intense criticism as the team last won silverware back in 2017, lifting the Europa League and League Cup trophies.
In April, thousands protested outside Old Trafford, lighting flares and singing songs demanding the Glazers "get out of the club".
United's net debt, another bone of contention among fans, had grown to $987 million by September.
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Post by rugbytoffee on May 13, 2023 9:26:18 GMT
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has moved a significant step closer to securing Manchester United, with the Glazers and their New York bankers ready to discuss details of a sale with the British petrochemicals billionaire.
Sources close to the deal have indicated that the Glazers and The Raine Group are now willing to enter final talks with Ratcliffe and his team at Ineos to thrash out the world-record deal.
Ratcliffe moved ahead in the contest with a Qatari group, fronted by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, and other rival bidders when his final offer represented the highest valuation — it could reach as much as £6 billion — for the Premier League club.
Insiders believe that valuation, and Ratcliffe’s willingness to agree a deal that enables Joel and Avram Glazer to retain a 20 per cent stake in the club has proved a significant factor. The Qataris’ third and final offer for a 100 per cent buy-out came in below £5 billion, despite claims to the contrary.
Known to have seriously undermined the Qatar bid is the collapse of Credit Suisse in March, which is understood to have cost Qatar’s Investment Authority billions as the second-biggest shareholder and not helped the case of Sheikh Jassim, the bid leader, who had close links with the failed Swiss bank.
The deal is complicated by the split between B-shares, which carry powerful voting rights, and the A-shares on the New York Stock Exchange, and it is likely that more talks will be needed to thrash out the exact terms of the deal, which could take a number of weeks.
Given the animosity between the Glazers and United’s supporters, the prospect of a continuing connection with the present owners was not met with a great deal of enthusiasm by fan groups.
But any deal would almost certainly conclude with Ratcliffe purchasing the stake retained by Joel and Avram over two possible phases in the next two to four years.
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Post by rugbytoffee on May 17, 2023 7:21:07 GMT
Qatari billionaire Sheikh Jassim has returned with a final offer to try and buy Manchester United ahead of Sir Jim Ratcliffe at the eleventh hour.
Just as the drama surrounding the Man Utd takeover seemed to be coming to an end, the Daily Mail report that Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani has returned to the table with a final, take it or leave it offer to buy 100% of the club, in a desperate bid to turn the Glazers' attention away from Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
It emerged last week that Ratcliffe was the preferred bidder after last month's final round of bidding with his offer of a majority takeover, but Sheikh Jassim has now submitted an improved final offer.
However, that offer is still thought to be valued lower than Ratcliffe's, which was the case after the supposed third and final round of bids last month. While the Lancashire-born billionaire has not bid for 100% of the club, his offer for a majority stake, which would allow the Glazers to remain before eventually being bought out completely, values United higher.
As well as proposing to buy 100% of the club, Sheikh Jassim's offer proposes to wipe clean the £536 million ($669.2m) of debt leveraged against United. It is expected that Ratcliffe's petrochemicals company INEOS would take on and manage that debt if his offer is successful.
Talks with all parties are said to be continuing, despite the claim that a preferred bidder would be firmly identified last week.
The report states that it remains to be seen if Ratcliffe will now try to improve his offer further. The pressure is now firmly on for United's takeover to be completed before the end of the season, with the summer transfer window swiftly approaching and both their men's and women's teams in difficult positions regarding incoming and outgoing players.
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