The race to buy Manchester United may, at last, have reached the home straight.
It is expected that the Glazers, who have owned the club since a controversial leveraged buyout in 2005, will this week name their preferred bidder.
There are two main contenders still in the running: Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani. The choice for the Glazers is, on paper, simple: sell to one of these bidders, or stay in control at Old Trafford.
United fans across the world are desperate for an end to the protracted process, one way or another. It’s been a story that has rumbled on for the best part of nine months, and it’s often threatened to distract from the achievements on the pitch in Erik ten Hag’s largely positive first season in charge.
Here, The Sporting News sums up where we stand and what is likely to come next.
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Are the Glazers actually going to sell Man United?
First things first: we don’t know for definite that the Glazers will decide to sell the club.
When they announced last November that they were seeking “strategic alternatives” to the running of the club as things stood, the American family made it clear that an outright sale was not the only option.
“The board will consider all strategic alternatives,” they said in a statement. “That includes new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company.”
In other words, the Glazers have spent the past nine months inviting prospective bidders to offer one of three things: a full buyout of the club, a purchase of a minority stake, or an injection of funds in return for brokering one of the other two deals.
As of the week beginning June 12, we still don’t know exactly which is the preferred option among the family: while some may well be happy to cash in on their shares, others — such as Joel and Avram, the two siblings most involved in the running of the club — are said to be hesitant to sell outright.
Who wants to buy Man United?
There are two main contenders to complete majority or outright purchases of Man United: Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani.
Ratcliffe’s was the first bid to go public, back in January of this year. The billionaire was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester and supported United as a boy, and he has long held an interest in buying a club — he made an unsuccessful attempt to purchase Chelsea from Roman Abramovich, while INEOS already owns Nice in Ligue 1 — and the fact he is a well-known figure in the UK with a clear passion for sport adds to his appeal.
However, Ratcliffe and INEOS have only ever wanted to buy a certain percentage of the club’s shares, not the whole lot. At the moment, it is commonly reported that their bid of around $6.2 billion is for 69 per cent of the shares, which would allow the Glazers to retain a minority stake in the club. Sky News reported in May that Ratcliffe’s offer includes a clause that would enable him to buy out the rest of the family in another three years.
Sheikh Jassim’s bid looks more simple: an offer valued closer to $7.5bn for 100 per cent of the shares. While it might sound a more tempting bid for the Glazers, that figure includes the promise of investment in United’s facilities, stadium and infrastructure. This means the bid technically values United at a lower amount than Ratcliffe’s offer.
Sheikh Jassim, the son of a hugely influential Qatari politician, is the chairman of the Qatar Islamic Bank. Educated in the UK, he is claimed to be a long-standing United fan.
Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani bid in for 100% of Manchester United 🚨🔴 #MUFC
“The offer aims to restore the club to its former glory, both on and off the pitch, and will focus on putting fans back at the heart of Manchester United Football Club”.
Full statement ⤵️🚨 pic.twitter.com/c54Zuj1jwi
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 17, 2023
Could anyone else buy the club?
At this stage, it’s highly unlikely, unless the Glazers received an offer so lucrative it made them alter the sale process.
The other main possibility is that they instead accept an offer of a minority investment in order to inject more cash into the club. This is the approach made by some US firms such as Carlyle and Elliot Management.
Hedge funds such as these are said to have held talks with Raine Group, the bank appointed by the Glazers to oversee the sale process, in recent months.
So, Man United have received final bids… What happens next?
We’re into the endgame of this process — or, at least, we’re close to it.
It is anticipated that the Glazers could name a preferred bidder in the week beginning June 12. That party would then be able to enter into a period of exclusivity with Raine Group and United’s owners: in other words, they would be free to negotiate a deal without the threat of being gazumped by a rival offer.
If that happens, talks would continue until a final agreement was reached to sell the club — or part of it, depending on the offer — to the preferred bidder. That process could be completed before the new English football season, but there’s no absolute guarantee.
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Who is the favourite to become the preferred bidder?
Until late last week, Ratcliffe and INEOS looked like favourites to buy United, However, Sheikh Jassim’s late new take-it-or-leave-it offer has, according to the Daily Mail, convinced the Qataris that they are back in the race. We’ll learn more in the coming days.
INEOS’ offer would likely allow the Glazers to retain a minority stake in United before potentially selling at a later date for a higher price, which could be appealing. However, Sheikh Jassim’s approach presents the more immediate financial benefit to the family (and would also offer a clean break with the club). Each option has positives and negatives for the Glazers.
All parties involved — as well as staff at United — are said to have been frustrated by the slow process, with the Glazers initially suggesting a sale could be completed in the first financial quarter of the year. However, there is more widespread hope now that we could, finally, be coming to the end of this saga.
What do the Man United fans want?
In two words, “Glazers out”. That has been made clear, loudly and plainly, in the streets of Manchester and the seats of Old Trafford for the past 18 years.
The most recent protest march staged by supporters ahead of the home league match with Aston Villa on April 30 partly came about because of news reports suggesting the club’s owners were leaning towards only a partial sale. The overwhelming majority of Red Devils fans want to see the back of the Americans, who have saddled the club with debt and allowed its facilities to decay while overseeing a period of mediocrity on the pitch in the past decade.
#MUFC fans outside the director’s entrance, calling for a “full sale only”.
We know who the main bidders are, and only one is offering a full takeover.
This was, in effect, a long, loud protest demanding Manchester United fall under the de facto control of the state of Qatar pic.twitter.com/jiNnE4wIPN
— Joe Wright (@JoeWright004) April 30, 2023
That makes Sheikh Jassim’s offer for 100 per cent of the club’s shares the more popular among fans, especially those on social media, where ‘#AnnounceQatar’ was trending as Manchester City celebrated winning the Champions League final on Saturday and matching United’s treble of 1999 in the process. The promise of significant investment in the club’s training centres, academy, women’s team, stadium and surrounding areas, not to mention the potential for some eye-catching player signings, is also of huge appeal to supporters.
However, there are many who have made their opposition clear to the idea of United falling under the indirect control of the state of Qatar, whose human rights record and treatment of migrant workers caused huge controversy as they staged the 2022 World Cup.
When did the Glazers buy Manchester United?
The Glazers’ connection with United stretches back to 2003, following their initial purchase of club shares through a 2.9 per cent stake at Old Trafford.
That was followed up by gradual share increases year by year up until 2005, where they purchased a controlling stake from former owners JP McManus and John Magnier.
How much did the Glazers pay for Manchester United?
Following a rapid buying of shares in the summer of 2005, the Glazers completed a full takeover before the start of the 2005/06 season, with an estimated full purchase price of around £790 million ($1.5bn).
To finance the takeover, the family loaded some of the debt onto the club, putting them in the red for the first time since the 1930s.
It is the club’s debt level, coupled with the Glazers taking millions in dividend payments each year while substantially reducing investment into certain areas of the club — such as the stadium — that has fuelled much of the anger towards their ownership among fans.