Manchester United takeover update: Bidders prepare final offers ahead of Glazers’ deadline
The proposed sale of the Premier League club could move pretty swiftly once the final bids have been submitted.
Bidders interesting in buying Manchester United have less than a day to submit their final offers. The Raine Group – who are brokering the sale on behalf of the Glazer family – have set a deadline of 10pm BST (5pm ET) on Friday.
The Glazers are then expected to consider the various offers and choose a preferred bidder in the coming days.
Despite huge interest in recent months the only two publicly declared bidders still in the race are Sheik Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Sheik Jassim’s Qatari consortium is looking to acquire 100% of the club in a deal that would see the Glazers relinquish control of Manchester United after two decades of ownership. Ratcliffe’s offer would see his petro-chemical company Ineos take a 51% stake the club, leaving around 20% of the shares with the Glazers.
Neither candidate tabled a satisfactory offer in the first two rounds of bidding.
Are the Glazers going to sell Manchester United?
The proposed sale has given United fans – the vast majority of whom are eager to be free of the Glazers’ control – hope that new ownership could be on the horizon. However after the first two rounds of bids proved insufficient there is now a concern that the Glazers may decide to stick around.
Their asking price is thought to be around around £6 billion ($7.47bn), a figure that would make the sale the largest in the history of sports. The Glazers may have to lower their expectations if they are to agree a sale now.
However this latest round of bids has required interested parties to submit additional financial information. There is hope that this means that a sale could be fairly swift once the deal has been agreed.
If one of the interest parties reaches a deal with the Glazer family on the financial side the takeover could be completed in time for the summer transfer window.
Manchester United face Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday and the 1958 fan group have organised a protest march at the stadium. They want a full sale of the club to be completed as swiftly as possible, removing the Glazers from the club for good.