Sir Jim Ratcliffe Eyes Man UTD Purchase
Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest individuals, has stated an interest in buying Premier League football club Manchester United.
The 69-year-old, who is from Greater Manchester and Manchester United supporter, has already shown intention to purchase a Premier League club this year, by tabling a last-minute £4.25 billion bid to buy Chelsea in the summer. That offer was ultimately beaten by the bid of American businessman Todd Boehly who successfully took over the club, but it does not look to have deterred Ratcliffe from fulfilling that ambition.
Ratcliffe is the CEO of British multinational chemicals company Ineos Group Ltd. He also owns cycling team Ineos Grenadiers, Ligue 1 side Nice and Swiss Super League club FC Lausanne-Sport.
Discussing Manchester United, a spokesperson for Ratcliffe told The Times, “If the club is for sale, Jim is definitely a potential buyer. If something like this was possible, we would be interested in talking with a view to long-term ownership.
“This is not about the money that has been spent or not spent. Jim is looking at what can be done now and, knowing how important the club is to the city, it feels like the time is right for a reset.”
The news comes in a week when the future ownership of one of England’s biggest clubs has been thrown into doubt. The Independent reported on 17th August that the current owners, the Glazer family, would consider selling the club for $6bn (£5bn).
According to a Bloomberg report, the Glazer family, who have owned the club since 2005, are only considering selling a minority stake, and preliminary discussions have been held to bring in a new investor.
The questions surrounding the club’s future has been intensified by Manchester United’s poor start to the season on the pitch, suffering defeats in both of its first two Premier League games against Brighton and Brentford, leading to widespread criticism of the club’s ownership.
The Red Devils share price on the New York Stock Exchange rose sharply in response to the fan opinion, with the shares closing at $13.69 (£11.36) on Wednesday 17th August, an increase of 7.1%.
Tesla owned Elon Musk briefly threw his hat into the ring of the debate about by claiming on Twitter that he is buying the struggling Premier League club – before saying that the post was part of a “long-running joke“.
Manchester United has yet to publicly comment on the speculation surrounding a change of ownership.
Image: Shutterstock
