Sir Jim Ratcliffe is far from the only party interested in buying Manchester United from the Glazer family.
The Glazers announced in November that they had put United up for sale, following in the footsteps of rivals Liverpool. They hoped the announcement would spark a bidding war and drive up the asking price of around £5billion. After an initial slow burn it seems they have managed to drum up interest.
As Britain’s richest man, a United fan and the owner of French club Nice, Ratcliffe always seemed like a potential bidder and he confirmed in January that he was indeed launching a takeover bid. He has now hired American banks Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to advise him during the process.
United are understood to have put forward a soft deadline of February 17 for interested parties to make themselves known. The Telegraph reports that Ratcliffe is set to be joined in the bidding process by at least three other major contenders.
Investors from Saudi Arabia are believed to be weighing up the possibility of bidding for United, despite the country’s Public Investment Fund owning rival Premier League side Newcastle. Saudi Arabia has twice considered the prospect of a full takeover of United in the past, but would now be limited to doing so through private means, given the conflict of interest with Newcastle.
The club has partnered with Saudi Telecom before, while United also helped the country develop its football industry in 2017 as part of its Saudi Vision 2030.
There is also serious interest from Qatar, with the report stating that ‘a high-powered Qatari individual’ is readying a bid, which would be separate from Qatar Sports Investment group, which owns Paris Saint-Germain. Qatari investors could use money from the Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign fund worth £360bn.
The fourth party is American – and could be drawn from the same group who missed out on the £2.5bn sale of Chelsea to Todd Boehly’s consortium in May. There won’t be a bid from the Ricketts family, however, with the Chicago Cubs baseball team owners ruling themselves out.
Like the Chelsea sale, the United process is being handled by Raine Group. While there is no hard timeline at present, the Glazers would like to complete a deal within the first quarter, or by the end of April.
Former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton has predicted that the Glazers will struggle to fetch their asking price. The club has a value of roughly £3bn on the New York Stock Exchange, so a bid of up to £4.5bn could be enough to seal a full takeover from the American family.
United are third in the Premier League following their 2-2 draw with Leeds on Wednesday night. Erik ten Hag’s side are readying themselves for a Europa League knockout tie with Barcelona and a first chance at silverware in six years in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle.
