INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe failed at buying two other clubs before his attempt to purchase Manchester United, which is reportedly 'dead in the water' after the minority shareholders gave the current United board an ultimatum.
INEOS own Ligue 1 side Nice and Swiss club FC Laussane Sport and have attempted to expand their portfolio with offers to purchase some of European football's biggest teams, most notably Chelsea and Barcelona. Before entering the race to buy United from the Glazer family, Ratcliffe and INEOS were in the running for Chelsea when Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale last year after he was sanctioned by the UK government due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
However, they were "late" in making an offer and by the time they did Todd Boehly and his Clearlake Capital consortium had virtually "wrapped up" a deal. "There's always stuff going on at INEOS so, if I am buying, say, a business in China, Chelsea coming up does not automatically go to the top of my list of priorities," Ratcliffe said in a new book entitled 'Grit, Rigour & Humour: The INEOS Story'.
"Also it's going to be £3bn-£4bn, you're going to put yourself on the front page of the newspapers every week. If you're a venture capitalist in America, it's quite an easy decision to have a quick look, but people like me, and Andy [Currie, CEO] and John [Reece, Finance Director], we need to think about it.
"An American mergers and acquisitions house was running the sale [for Roman Abramovich]. The only three parties they were talking to were private equity houses in America. They didn't want us involved at all. We did have a word with the government, and with the supporters' club, because football clubs are community assets, but Boris [Johnson] and company didn't want to know."
Ratcliffe and INEOS' attempts to buy Chelsea was documented at the time, but the book also revealed that they made an offer to purchase half of Barcelona. Ratcliffe states that he had "extremely interesting" discussions, but the move ultimately fell through because it "became too political" due to the fact Barcelona is technically owned by their supporters.
144,000 socios hold most of the power, electing a president who is entrusted to run the club. When Ratcliffe made his approach, former president Joan Laporta had only just returned to their role with Barcelona in severe financial trouble.
And it was Laporta's plans to raise money by selling a percentage of Barcelona's television rights which scuppered any potential deal, with Ratcliffe criticising the 'short-term' way the club is run. "We told them, 'Don't do it, guys – we'll put in two or three billion, renovate the Nou Camp and have 50 per cent ownership – and sign a deed to say we'd never sell.' Our interest was in football alone, not making money," he claimed.
"I think it would have worked well. We talked about it but, in the end, they didn't think they could go to the fans with it. The road they are going down is a disaster. We tried to point that out and they said, 'We know, but . . .' They are all short-termers [Barcelona regimes] because the president comes in, does it for five years and hands the mess over to someone else.
"They have now sold a chunk of the TV rights, and merchandising rights, for the next 25 years. They've sold them to American hedge funds. So they've got this big slug of cash, which they can now . . . waste."
Indeed, Ratcliffe’s bid to complete a takeover of Manchester United appears to have faltered with Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani now leading the race to complete a deal. According to Bloomberg, the 70-year-old’s bid for the Red Devils is 'dead in the water'. They state it is because he is proposing a structure to buy out the Glazers, whilst he is unwilling to offer anything to the minority stakeholders already in situ.
