US private equity firm Apollo has reportedly rejected reports of its interest to buy a minority stake in Manchester United from the Glazer family after Sir Jim Ratcliffe declaring his interest in buying the club.
Reports earlier this week indicated that Glazer brothers Avram and Joel still aren't yet ready to cede full control of the club but are open to selling a minority stake. It subsequently was suggested that Apollo Global Management were in discussions to purchase a stake in the club and could bring in other investors in due course.
The news had followed renewed and sharp criticism of the Glazers' ownership after the Red Devils suffered back-to-back defeats to begin their Premier League campaign with a whimper.
However, a report in Bloomberg this weekend outlines that Apollo are not involved in negotiations to buy a stake in the club and that their interest had never been to buy equity in United. It is suggested that other parties in the consortium are continuing with talks over a possible deal.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville criticised the possible involvement of Apollo in United after the initial reports emerged, by tweeting: “If the reports are true that the Glazer Family are ready to part sell ahead of a full sale it’s totally unacceptable that this is to a US investment fund. Apollo have been mentioned but they need to know they will not be welcomed in Manchester.”
Apollo’s involvement in football has been minimal, although they were involved in debt financing for at least one team as they were part of a deal at Portuguese club Sporting CP last year. Reports of their interest came amid Ratcliffe’s interest in buying United emerging.
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Ratcliffe has been a season ticket holder at Chelsea – despite being a Manchester United fan - and he has been named by Forbes as Britain’s richest man. The 69-year-old has built up an estimated £20billion net worth thanks to his multi-national chemicals company Ineos.
He already owns French club Nice with continued speculation that he may invest in a high-end British club, with links to investment in Chelsea first emerging in 2019 – prior to attempts to buy the club earlier this year.
Ratcliffe explained to The Times in 2019, when asked about buying a Premier League club: "Even though clubs have those valuations today, nobody has ever paid those amounts of money. How much did Abramovich pay for Chelsea, £100 million? The Glazers, what £500 million? You can say it's worth three, four billion but no one has ever paid those sums. Ineos has always tried to take a sensible approach. We don't like squandering money or we wouldn’t be where we are today. It's part of our DNA, trying to spend sensibly."
