in

Sheikh Jassim, Ratcliffe submit second Man Utd bids

The battle to buy Manchester United heated up on Wednesday as Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe returned with second bids for the English giants.

Interested parties had until 2100GMT on Wednesday to declare their offer to Raine, the merchant bank brought in to assist the sale of the club.

United’s owners, the Glazer family, have reportedly set a world record £6 billion valuation for a sports club.

Sheikh Jassim’s bid for 100 per cent control of the club promises to wipe United’s $620 million debt and invest in a new stadium and training ground, in addition to backing for the men’s and women’s teams.

A source close to Sheikh Jassim’s bid told AFP he remains confident his bid is “the best for the club, fans and local community.”

INEOS chemical company founder Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, has been more circumspect in his assessment, insisting he will not pay a “stupid” price in bidding war for one of football’s most iconic clubs.

“How do you decide the price of a painting? How do you decide the price of a house? It’s not related to how much it cost to build or how much it cost to paint,” Ratcliffe told the Wall Street Journal this week.

“What you don’t want to do is pay stupid prices for things because then you regret it subsequently.”

Ratcliffe, who wants the 69 per cent stake owned by the Glazer family, said his interest in United would be “purely in winning things”, calling the club a “community asset”.

Deeply unpopular with supporters since they saddled the club with debt in a £790 million leveraged takeover in 2005, the Glazers appeared ready to cash out at an enormous profit when they invited external investment in November.

However, they could yet shun the option of selling a controlling stake in the club with other parties interested in a minority shareholding.

The initial offers from the first round of bidding last month were believed to have been worth around £4.5 billion.

That would surpass the Premier League record of £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 promised in investment in infrastructure and players.

Bidders are expected to hear from United next week, with another round of bidding still in play.

If one bid is vastly ahead of the others, it could be chosen to enter into a period of exclusivity, which would allow further negotiation ahead of a final sale.

Report

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What do you think?

928 Points
Upvote Downvote
Enthusiast

Written by Olusesan Oba

Years Of MembershipStory MakerContent Author

Egyptian referee suspended for using spectator’s phone to review goal

Electoral Violence: MC Oluomo faces travel ban as US, UK compile names of perpetrators