Manchester United Receives Final Bids
Manchester United has received fresh bids from Sir Jim Radcliffe’s Ineos Group and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani.
The two parties are the front runners in the race to buy the Premier League club and the only prospective buyers to publicly bid in the third round of offers.
The latest round of bids, which were submitted before a deadline of 10pm on Friday 28th April, follows a protracted sale period. The Glazer family listed the club in November 2022 after years of unrest and fan protests surrounding their ownership.
The offer from Sheikh Jassim is thought to be around £5bn and includes a figure that would go direct to the sellers as well as a plan to make a significant amount of additional capital and infrastructure investment into the club.
The Qatari bid would make United the most expensive sports team in history by at least £200m, exceeding the £4.8bn ongoing deal to buy NFL franchise Washington Commanders, but would still fail to hit the Glazers’ £6bn public valuation of the Red Devils.
It is believed that the third bid deadline only applied to those looking to purchase the entirety of the club, removing the bids of US-based investment firms Elliott Management and Carlyle, both of which aimed to purchase a minority stake in United.
There have also been suggestions this week that Ineos could restructure its offer, which initially was for the Glazer family’s combined 69% stake, in a way that could allow co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer to retain their personal shareholding.
The move has been heavily criticised by the 1958 fan group, who have demanded ‘Full Sale Only’ and conducted a protest march on 30th April as United overcame Aston Villa 1-0 on Saturday.
The Glazer family and US investment banking firm Raine Group, that helped to complete Chelsea’s sale to American billionaire Todd Boehly last year, are expected to consider the bids over the coming days.
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