The bids for Manchester United are in and the club’s Glazers owners are now set to make a crucial decision that will influence the club – and English football – for years to come.
Friday night saw the third and final deadline for bids with a group led by Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani taking on a bid from INEOS, ran by Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Several US investment companies – Elliott Management, the Carlyle Group and Ares Management – are proposing minority investment into the club, which would see the Glazers remain in position at the head of United.
The Glazer family continually pushed back their deadline to complete a sale of the club with the ownership situation at Old Trafford still unclear, despite their intentions of listening to offers – both majority and minority investments – coming over five months ago.
This week it emerged that Ratcliffe had tabled a fresh proposal that would enable Avram and Joel Glazer to retain a small stake in the club. Sheikh Jassim remains intent on acquiring 100 per cent of the club rather than a minority stake – as the differences between the two bids became clearer.
However, the stance from Ratcliffe is likely to risk his reputation among United’s fanbase. The Glazers are deeply unpopular among supporters after their leveraged buyout in 2005 saddled the club with enormous debts, while on the field the Red Devils having gone a decade without winning the Premier League title. United fans want the Glazers to relinquish the club in its entirety.
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The bid from Qatar is now the only option which would see the Glazers leave the club. Their offer is believed to exceed £5billion, which would be a world record offer for a sports club. However, it still falls short of the £6billion asking price the current owners were hopeful of receiving.
At least two of the six Glazer siblings – Joel and Avram – are understood to prefer an option which would see an outside investor buy a stake in the club to help finance huge capital projects like the redevelopment of the Old Trafford stadium and Carrington training ground.
Under Ratcliffe’s proposals, Joel and Avram would retain a minority stake in the club but would no longer be responsible for major club decisions and would take a backseat at Old Trafford as Ratcliffe’s INEOS group assumed major control.
However, the delay in the process favours Ratcliffe ahead of Qatar. The INEOS owner had always wanted to wait until the end of the season before making a final decision on a bid, as this would allow him to fully assess United’s financial health and outlooks – depending on income from the season and potential Champions League qualification.
Sheikh Jassim, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank, is the son of a former Qatari prime minister and has previously claimed that this bid is a private initiative that is not connected to the Qatari state and is instead through his Nine Two Foundation. Should his bid be accepted – that claim would be examined through vetting processes.
Qatar Sports Investment – who share a direct link to the Qatari state – are likely to increase their investment in Paris Saint-Germain and remain committed to the French club amid interest in buying Spanish team Malaga. It is unclear if this will impact the bid for United – but the prolonging of the bidding process is likely to pour doubt on the situation.
