Man Utd takeover ‘talks continue’ amid huge £7.7bn claim; ‘plan’ was in place to ‘finalise’ deal
According to reports, Manchester United takeover ‘talks are continuing’ after it was claimed that the Glazer family are ‘taking the club off the market’.
The Premier League giants have been on the market since the Glazer family announced last November that they were looking for new investment. A full sale was not ruled out as they claimed that they would “evaluate all options”.
There have since been three official rounds of bidding, but Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim has submitted five bids for Man Utd.
Sheikh Jassim has emerged as a leading candidate to oust the Glazer family but he is being challenged by INEOS’ Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Ratcliffe is understood to be willing to keep the Glazer family on board with a reduced stake of around 20%, while Sheikh Jassim is only interested in a full takeover.
Conflicting reports have emerged in relation to the takeover in recent months. It was claimed last week that a takeover is unlikely as Man Utd are to be ‘taken off the market’ by the Glazer family.
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This claim has now been refuted by 90min, who claim that ‘talks over the sale of Manchester United are continuing’. They explain.
‘It is understood lines of communication remain open between everyone involved.
’90min has been told that United and Raine Group, the investment bank overseeing the sale of the club, had planned on everything being finalised by November, which would mark a year from when the Glazers first confirmed they were considering selling the club.
‘An official asking price has not formally been set by the Glazers but the figure of around £6bn was expected by the bidding groups, but North American sources with knowledge of the situation have always suggested to 90min that this will not be enough to secure a sale.
‘The Glazers, who own NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have just witnessed the world’s biggest sale of a sports club as the Washington Commanders were sold for £4.8bn in July.
‘The fact the Commanders reached a figure of near £5bn is believed to have played a part in convincing the Glazers that they should be getting much more than £6bn for United, who are widely regarded as the biggest footballing brand in world football, and they see United more comparable with the Dallas Cowboys, who were valued at $9bn (£7.7bn) by Forbes magazine – enough to make them the highest-valued NFL franchise.’
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