Bidding continues around Manchester United. The president of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Sheikh Jassem Ben Hamad Al Thani, has submitted a third offer to buy the entire Premier League club, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned on Friday 28 April from a source familiar with the matter, confirming information from the sports channel Sky Sports.
According to the British channel, this offer would exceed 5.7 billion euros, a world record for this type of transaction. But the Glazers, the club’s owning family, have said they expect 7 billion euros from the sale.
“We cannot discuss the details of the offer at this stage”, wrote the same source to AFP, on the question of the amount. But “in addition to the figure for the takeover of the club [l’argent qui ira aux vendeurs seuls], Sheikh Jassem’s offer also includes a project to invest a substantial sum directly in the club’s capital and infrastructure., she pointed out. The club’s debt, which is currently close to 700 million euros, would be fully repaid, she further assured.
Jim Ratcliffe, CEO of Ineos, still in the race
Also according to Sky Sports, the other main takeover candidate, Jim Ratcliffe, CEO of the petrochemical group Ineos, has also submitted a third offer, but which does not cover the entire club.
The Glazer family, at the head of the club for eighteen years, holds 69% of the capital, 31% being in the hands of institutional investors. But the Glazer siblings being divided on the sale, Jim Ratcliffe would be ready to leave around 19% to the brothers Joel and Avram Glazer, co-chairmen of the club, if he is guaranteed to become the majority shareholder of Manchester United.
The deadline for making a third offer, after those of mid-February and the end of March, set by the American Glazer family, owner of the club, expired at 11 p.m. (Paris time).
In addition to Sheikh Jassim and Jim Ratcliffe, investment funds seemed ready to take a minority stake, or even help the Glazers, who wish, to retain control of the club and finance the important infrastructure investments that the club needs. .
