Man Utd takeover – news: Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos submit improved bid for club

2010: Fenway Sports Group for Liverpool, £300m

Already the owners of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) completed their purchase of Liverpool in October 2010. Led by billionaire John W Henry, the sports investment conglomerate was founded in 2001 and their investment helped Jurgen Klopp assemble the first Premier League title-winning Liverpool side.

But FSG have proved increasingly unpopular among Liverpool supporters, with Henry apologising to fans for the club’s proposed involvement in the failed European Super League project, and FSG confirmed late last year that they would be willing to consider new shareholders amid reports the club was up for sale.

With Manchester United set to be bought for a potential world-record price for a sports team, we look at the previous most expensive Premier League takeovers in history, starting with their noisy neighbours.

2008: Sheikh Mansour for Manchester City, £210 million

It was the deal that precipitated the establishment of Manchester City as one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs, leading to an era of record transfer deals and significant, sustained success. Sheikh Mansour, the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, completed his controversial takeover in September 2008 through the Abu Dhabi United Group, an investment arm of the Abu Dhabi royal family.

Six Premier League titles have followed, with Manchester City’s owners also investing in a number of other clubs around the world to create a global network. But alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules have led to the club being charged by the English top division.

There was a late twist in the Manchester United takeover saga last night! The Independent now understands that neither of the two leading bids for Manchester United, fronted by the Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, submitted their improved offers for the club by Wednesday’s deadline.

Both parties had until 9pm to submit their offers but have instead asked for an extension to the deadline. It is understood both groups will submit their second, improved bids on Thursday, with the offers for the club expected to be more than £5bn in what is a crucial stage of the takeover process.

Ratcliffe’s INEOS group and the bid front by Sheikh Jassim were expected to submit their offers in advance of the deadline, but in a dramatic twist that surprised even those close to the process, it emerged the Raine group received neither offer. An extension to the process has been granted, however.

Although neither Sheikh Jassim nor Sir Jim Ratcliffe is thought to have surpassed £5bn with their initial bids, both are expected to get closer to the mark second time around - after they were granted an extension to the initial deadline of 9pm yesterday.

However, the two bids were for different stakes of ownership and brought different options to the table for Manchester United as a football club.

Sheikh Jassim wants to complete a full takeover of United, meaning he would buy the Glazer family’s 69 per cent and then purchase the remaining 31 per cent, which is made up of smaller investors. This could take some time as he would have to contact and negotiate with each investor to buy out their shares.

The Qatari banker has also made several pledges to invest in specific areas of the club - such as renovating the stadium - leaving United in debt following the cash purchase.

Ratcliffe’s bid is only for the Glazers’ 69 per cent and a majority shareholder stake. At this stage he is not offering to buy out the remaining shareholders.

He would have to borrow money to finance any takeover and his company INEOS has not committed to paying off the club’s debt, which sits at £656 million.

Those close to his bid are saying that no new debt will be loaded onto the club but it remains to be seen if Ratcliffe would pay off the debt over time.

Paul Scholes hopes the potential sale of Manchester United will bring to an end years of fan unrest.

The Glazer family are considering selling the Old Trafford giants after 18 years of controversial ownership.

The Americans have invited interested parties to submit plans to take the club forward, which could either mean a full takeover or significant investment.

So far two bidders, Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim, have gone public with plans to take outright control of the club but there could be other interest.

Former United midfielder Scholes has no preference over who might take charge but just hopes it does happen for the sake of harmony.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire says the suggestion that the Glazer family would receive more than £5bn for the Red Devils is way off the mark.

In a similar comparison, Todd Boehly’s consortium bought Chelsea for £4bn and with Manchester United being a more historically rich and successful side, not to mention more commerically viable, then the Glazers’ valuation doesn’t seem too over the top.

“Manchester United is a much bigger football club than Chelsea,” Maguire told CNN. “It’s got a bigger ground. It’s got a bigger fan base. It’s a much more well-known brand.

“It’s a bit like putting up your house for sale and you give a rough guide price. The Glazers are looking for $7.2 to $9.6 billion. It’s probably not worth that … and it comes down to how much each party is willing to compromise or to pay in terms of extra financial commitments.”

A Qatari state takeover of Manchester United would be nothing short of an English football travesty, writes Miguel Delaney.

This is a moment of enormity for the sport. The concern is two-fold, both having a multiplying effect on the other to pose a potentially irreversible impact on the game. At its moral core, there is English football’s biggest club being made to represent the biggest problem in football right now. United would be politically used to mitigate one of the most criticised human rights records on earth, centred on a labour system described as modern slavery, consequently making this noble institution complicit.

United would no longer just be about Salford, Manchester and a community of fans thrilled by a glorious history of adventure and defiance. It would be about Qatar, its foreign policy and the kind of issues that just shouldn’t be a concern for football. “Sportswashing” is too soft a description for what is actually happening here, especially when you consider the other issue.

The purchase of United by a state bid would mean the three primary countries driving the Gulf blockade all finally own major clubs in England, including the biggest of all. What would it say for what the Premier League is? The most watched league in the world would become the most morally compromised, by far greater degrees. The competition would be turned into a political arena. Manchester would be turned into a political arena. Nobody should be under any illusions about that.

Read Miguel’s full piece on the implications of a Qatari takeover of Man Utd:

Sheikh Jassim of Qatar and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are the faces of the two most public bids for Manchester United but up to eight interested parties toured Old Trafford and the Carrington training ground last week.

Elliott Investment Management, a US hedge fund, are known to have contacted Raine, the bank handling the sale for the Glazer family. They’re offer is to help finance any takeover and have indicated it would give assistance to the Glazers should a sale fail to materialise.

In that outcome Joel and Avram Glazer could potentially buy out their other siblings, as has been one rumoured option, though that borrowing would likely be leveraged against the club as opposed to the two individuals and would not go down well at all with Manchester United fans.

Other investment groups — including Ares Management, which refused to comment on its involvement — are thought to have also offered their capital to potential bidders and the Glazer family.

Bids will be handled by the Raine group, but it is understood the Glazer family are split over whether they want to sell the club or retain minority ownership.

While the Qatar and INEOS bids should be on the table after today’s extended deadline, a third option would be raising funds through minority investors for renewed investment into the club.

The Glazers would want a record £6bn for the club if they decide to sell - a fee The Independent understands the Qatar group are prepared to match.

INEOS have the funds to compete with the Qatar bid but it has been reported Ratcliffe has held concerns over the price rising too high.

According to reports from last night, there were up to eight bids submitted by Wednesday’s initial 9pm deadline but not, apparently, the Qatari or INEOS offers.

No one saw last night’s dramatic developments coming, though, and there are set to be plenty more today and in the coming days.