Sir Jim Ratcliffe is weighing up a fresh offer to buy a minority stake in Manchester United nearly 10 months after entering the bidding process to buy the club.
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The Glazer family put United up for sale nearly a year ago but despite an exhaustive auction process and two stand-out offers – one from Ratcliffe and the other from Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim – the club is no closer to being sold.
Some reports have even suggested that the Glazers have now taken United off the market after bidders failed to get anywhere close to their astronomical £10billion valuation.
But Sky News are reporting that Ineos founder Ratcliffe has not given up hope of buying the club just yet and is contemplating a completely revamped offer.
Unlike Sheikh Jassim, who had been proposing a full buyout, Ratcliffe had originally put forward an offer for majority control of the club that would have seen two of the Glazer siblings – Avram and Joel – retain their shares.
Now he is weighing up a minority offer for just 25% of the club that would mean the Glazers would remain in overall control.
Ratcliffe would look to increase his share over time – something he intended to do with his original offer – but the prospect of the Glazer family remaining in control of United will not go down well with supporters.
Any offer for a minority stake would need to be pitched at a valuation the Glazers would accept, meaning Ineos would need to stump up in excess of £1.5billion to acquire just a quarter of United’s shares.
Both the Glazer family and Raine Group, who are overseeing the sale, have said nothing about the bidding process so far and there is a significant degree of uncertainty over whether they would entertain Ratcliffe’s revised proposal.
They have previously intimated they are looking to secure new capital to invest in the club, with major renovations required at Old Trafford – with new clips of the leaky roof going viral once again over the weekend.
A cash injection from Ratcliffe in the region of £1.5bn would also allow for improvements to the training ground and bolster manager Erik ten Hag’s transfer kitty.
The Daily Mail are also reporting that Ineos are exploring a possible minority stake offer as they look to break the deadlock that has emerged in the bidding process.
The Qatari bid from Sheikh Jassim, however, has not changed since May and the banker remains committed to a 100% takeover – though the overall package of the deal has not met the Glazers’ asking price.
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