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On Wednesday, the Glazer family’s quest to find new investors for Manchester United will hit the one-year mark. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a lifelong fan of the club, is still expected to acquire a 25% share in the team in the upcoming days.
On November 22 of last year, the owners of United declared that they were considering strategic possibilities, such as selling the club completely, during the Premier League’s World Cup break.
After a year, Ratcliffe, the wealthy creator of Ineos, is close to finalizing a £1.25 billion agreement to obtain a 25% ownership in United. However, sources suggest that the official announcement may be delayed until next week.
If no agreement is reached on the New York Stock Exchange by Wednesday, the soonest confirmation could occur would be on Monday, due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States beginning on Thursday.
Ratcliffe is expected to gain a large amount of influence over the management of United’s football operations as part of his investment, which is yet to be officially confirmed. There have also been claims that he plans to contribute an extra £245million towards improving the club’s infrastructure.
At one point, it seemed likely that a takeover would occur, with Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim, a Qatari businessman, publicly named as potential buyers of the Glazers’ ownership.
In February, Sheikh Jassim expressed initial interest, but he later withdrew from the process in the previous month.
The offer from Sheikh Jassim was reported to have eventually exceeded twice the original market value of 3.2 billion dollars (£2.6bn) for the Premier League club as of October.
It was thought that the Qatari had also been ready to promise an extra $1.7 billion (£1.4 billion) for infrastructure initiatives.
In 2005, the Glazer family acquired United through a leveraged buy-out worth £790m. However, they have continuously faced strong backlash from fans throughout their ownership, especially in recent years as the club has not been successful in winning the Premier League since 2013.
In 2021, there was a significant increase in tension due to the owners’ heavy involvement in creating a European Super League. However, plans were quickly dropped after facing backlash from fans and disapproval from football’s governing bodies at both national and international levels.
Last week, United announced that Richard Arnold would be resigning from his position as chief executive, having served for less than two years.
Sources close to Ineos indicated they were not involved in Arnold’s departure, but it seems likely that further changes would be afoot once the deal is signed.
Source: independent.co.uk
