The lengthy Manchester United takeover saga should conclude within the next 24 hours, as bidders have been instructed to submit their third and best offer for the club by Friday at 10 p.m. BST.
Next week, it is anticipated that the Glazer family, with the assistance of the Raine Group, the bank tasked with brokering the transaction, will select a preferred bidder.
Nonetheless, there is no assurance that the Glazers will give up control. If their asking price of £6 billion is not met. They may opt to remain and raise capital by selling a minority stake to a U.S. hedge fund.
For the third round of bidding, interested parties were required to submit a substantial amount of additional documentation, despite lingering skepticism of the Glazers’ intentions and frustrations with the lengthy nature of the process. This has prompted cautious optimism that, if the price is right, a quick sale could occur and the new proprietors could be in place by the summer transfer window.
Since the club was placed on the market in November of last year, only two proposals have been made public for its ownership. Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani’s Qatari consortium has bid for 100 percent of the club, whereas Jim Ratcliffe’s petrochemicals company Ineos is seeking a controlling stake of slightly more than 50 percent, leaving Avram and Joel Glazer, two of the six Glazer siblings, with a 20 percent stake.
The Glazers’ third option—retaining the club while selling a minority stake—would infuriate United fans.
Sheikh Jassim, son of a former Qatari prime minister and chairman of the Qatari bank QIB, has the deepest assets. He has pledged to “restore the club to its former glory on and off the pitch” by investing in the team, training facility, stadium, and wider infrastructure.
Ratcliffe, from Failsworth, Greater Manchester, has stressed his loyalty to the team he loved as a boy. The 70-year-old billionaire, whose athletic portfolio includes Ligue 1 club Nice and the Ineos cycling team, has pledged to be “a British guardian for the club” and to “restore the Manchester to Manchester United.”
