Elliott Investment Management are willing to fund a £2billion redevelopment of Old Trafford – even if they are unsuccessful in buying Manchester United from the Glazers.
The American hedge fund is one of the three bidders to have been made public since the passing of the Glazers’ soft deadline last Friday. They are up against INEOS founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Elliott manages assets worth a whopping $56billion (£46bn) and has previous involvement in football, having owned AC Milan between July 2018 and June 2022. There has been little detail revealed on the hedge fund’s offer since their bid was reported last week.
The Daily Mail now says the bid, which was submitted to Raine Group last week, contains a few different proposals. While they are interested in a full buy-out of the Glazers, Elliott has also offered to finance a redevelopment of Old Trafford if they choose to sell to a different party, or retain control themselves.
Architects Populous, who designed the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, have already submitted plans to United which range from a £1bn redevelopment of the current structure, or a £2bn complete new-build stadium.
Previous reports have suggested that, unlike both Ratcliffe and the Qatari bids, Elliott would be open to the Glazers retaining control of United. The Glazers’ original statement in November said they would “consider all strategic alternatives, including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions”.
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That means they could sell a portion of the club to Elliott Management, or use the hedge fund’s money to finance a redevelopment of Old Trafford, rather than sell the entirety of the club. The Glazers are understood to be seeking between £5bn and £6bn for United – a huge amount.
NFL franchise Denver Broncos were sold for $4.65bn (£3.89bn) in August – the most ever paid for a club at present. Raine oversaw the sale of Chelsea to a consortium fronted by Todd Boehly in May last year, but the headline £4.25bn figure was made up of a fee of £2.5bn and included a commitment of £1.75bn to Stamford Bridge, the women’s team and the club’s charitable foundation.
In the statement about the sale, the Glazers said: “This will include an assessment of several initiatives to strengthen the club, including stadium and infrastructure redevelopment, and expansion of the club’s commercial operations on a global scale, each in the context of enhancing the long-term success of the club’s men’s, women’s and academy teams, and bringing benefits to fans and other stakeholders.”
That statement appears to align with Elliott Management’s offer. The hedge fund took control of AC Milan in 2018 after the Italian club’s owner Li Yonghong defaulted on a debt. They sold the club to RedBird Capital last summer for €1.2bn (£1bn).
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