Sheikh Jassim ‘sends legal letters’ to Man Utd demanding ‘corrective action’ over Ratcliffe breach
Sheikh Jassim has reportedly ‘sent legal letters’ to Manchester United’s lawyers to complain about “a pattern of demonstrably false and defamatory” statements made by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
INEOS owner Ratcliffe acquired a 27.7 per cent stake in United in a deal worth more than $1.3billion earlier this year, beating off competition from Sheikh Jassim after the Glazers launched a strategic review of the club in November 2022, inviting new investors to make bids for a stake in the club.
Now do you know he “exists”?
Reports claimed Sheikh Jassim was ready to buy the club outright, but when it was put to Ratcliffe after his deal had gone through that the bid fronted by the Qatari banker had been “very odd”, Ratcliffe responded in jovial fashion: “Still nobody’s ever seen him, actually. The Glazers (the family that owns Manchester United) never met him… he never… I’m not sure he exists!”
Sheikh Jassim has taken issue with Ratcliffe’s comments, with his legal representatives claiming in their correspondence to United that Sheikh Jassim met in person with Joel and Avram Glazer on July 26, 2023, also irritated by the British billionaire’s confirmation that the Qataris had exaggerated the size of their bid.
United claimed in their SEC filing – an account of the chain of events that led to Ratcliffe taking a stake in the club – that the Sheikh Jassim bid repeatedly failed to produce “customary financing commitment letters”, which was almost universally interpreted in media reports to mean that the bid failed to demonstrate proof of funds.
“Immediate corrective action”
A legal letter was sent to Manchester United’s lawyers on January 24, 2024 according to The Athletic, in which representatives of the Qataris insisted the filing had created a “misleading” impression and made a request for “immediate corrective action”, but no action has been taken.
The Athletic report continues:
‘Qatar’s legal correspondence says that the Nine Two Foundation made its fifth formal offer for United on June 1, 2023. This represented a bid of $5.072bn to buy out the club’s shareholders and a further $731million to clear the debt, bringing together an enterprise of value of $5.8billion. They also say they pledged to invest a further $1.3billion into Manchester United, which they argue brought the overall transaction consideration beyond $7billion.
‘This is why they seem to have been irked by Ratcliffe appearing to concur with a journalist that their bid had not been as high as suggested. The June 1 bid followed previous bids on February 17, March 24, April 28 and May 16, but there was exasperation among the Qatari bid that, because of their extreme wealth, there was an unreasonable expectation they would hit numbers that no other bidder had approached for a full sale of United.
‘Sources familiar with the discussions, who wish to remain anonymous because they are not authorised to speak publicly on the matter, also say the Qataris made further increases in verbal discussions and that the bid received the impression — but never formally in writing — that they had achieved preferred bidder status.’
Sheikh Jassim and his lawyers are demanding that Ratcliffe and United stop this “pattern of demonstrably false and defamatory” statements about their attempt to buy the club, which they call ‘Project Ruby’, adding that ‘they are still exploring all legal remedies and they have instructed United and Ratcliffe to preserve all documents regarding their client in relation to the transaction and the matters raised in their complaint’.
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