Manchester: The battle to buy Manchester United heated up on Wednesday when Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe returned with a second bid for the English giants.
Interested parties had until 2100GMT on Wednesday to announce their offer to Raine, who was brought in to help sell the Merchant Bank club.
United’s owners, the Glazer family, have reportedly set a world record price of £6 billion ($7.3 billion) for a sports club.
Sheikh Jassim’s bid for 100% control of the club promises to wipe out United’s $620 million debt and invest in a new stadium and training ground, in addition to supporting the men’s and women’s teams.
A source close to Sheikh Jassim’s bid told AFP he believed his bid was “best for the club, the fans and the local community.”
INEOS chemical company founder Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, has been more circumspect in his assessment, insisting he was “stupid” in the bidding war for one of football’s most famous clubs. Will not pay the price.
“How do you value a painting? How do you value a house? It’s not about how much it costs to build or how much it costs to paint,” Ratcliffe told the Wall Street Journal this week. told the Street Journal.
“What you don’t want to do is pay stupid prices for things because you regret it later.”
Ratcliffe, who wants the 69 per cent stake owned by the Glazer family, said his interest in United would be “purely to win things”, calling the club a “community asset”.
Deeply unpopular with supporters since flooding the club with debt in a £790 million leveraged takeover in 2005, the Glazers looked set to reap huge dividends when they invited outside investment in November.
However, they can still waive the option of selling a controlling stake in the club with other parties holding a minority shareholding interest.
Initial offers from the first round of bidding last month are believed to be worth around £4.5 billion.
It will surpass the Premier League record £2.5 billion paid for Chelsea last year by a consortium led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital, with a further £1.75 billion in infrastructure and players. An investment of billions was promised. .
Bidders are expected to hear from United next week, with another round of bidding still to come.
If a bid is far ahead of the others, it may be selected to enter an exclusivity period, which will allow for further negotiations before the final sale.
Qatar eyes Premier League status
Ratcliffe visited Old Trafford last Friday with representatives from INEOS, a day after a delegation from Sheikh Jassim’s group visited the club’s stadium and training ground for further talks as part of their due diligence. can be done
Just months after hosting the 2022 World Cup, a successful Qatari bid would give the Gulf states a place in the Premier League – the world’s most-watched domestic competition.
But that too would be controversial.
Sheikh Jassim is the son of former Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani and his close ties to the Gulf state’s ruling elite will raise questions about what would become another Premier League club’s state-backed project.
The fortunes of Premier League champions Manchester City have changed since Sheikh Mansour, a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, took over in 2008.
In 2021, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund bought a controlling stake in Newcastle.
Amnesty International has urged the Premier League to tighten ownership rules to ensure they are “no longer an opportunity to wash the game”.
United, three-time European champions, have not won the Premier League since legendary boss Alex Ferguson won his 20th English title in his final season before retiring in 2013.
But they are enjoying a renaissance under Erik ten Hague this season and ended a six-year trophy drought by lifting the League Cup last month.
