Sheikh Jassim withdrew his £5bn offer to buy Manchester United last month. Sir Jim Ratcliffe is now set to buy 25 percent of the club for over £1.25bn. Sheikh Jassim wanted to clear the club’s debts and invest more than £1bn in infrastructure projects.
Sheikh Jassim supports Manchester United and wants them to succeed, even though he couldn’t buy the club from the Glazers.
Sheikh Jassim withdrew his £5bn offer to buy United last month. Sir Jim Ratcliffe is now set to purchase 25% of the club for over £1.25bn.
Manchester United bid from Sheikh Jassim, worth millions of pounds, failed to materialize as a deal with the Glazers, who have owned the club since 2005, could not be agreed upon. The Glazers have been actively looking to sell the club since November 2022.
The Qatari bid was for 100% of United without any debt. Sheikh Jassim also planned to pay off their debts and spend $1.7bn (£1.38bn) on infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, one of United’s biggest shareholders has expressed uncertainty about Ratcliffe’s plan to purchase a minority stake.
Nick Train, of UK fund managers Lindsell Train, said: “I’ve got to assume that we’re closer to some sort of an announcement or crystallisation of value but who knows when or quite what shape it will take if the rumours are correct.
“I’ve no basis for knowing if they are or not.”
Lindsell Train owns around 20% of United’s class A shares, which are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Train said the takeover process has been “extremely convoluted and lengthy”.
The takeover process has been very complicated and has taken a long time.
Ratcliffe is buying a 25% stake in the club, which is being sold by the Glazer family. This sale comes almost a year after the Glazer family started looking for buyers.
Adding the cost of the stock purchase and other capital for investment means Ratcliffe will commit around £1.5bn on the first day of his United interest. The actual amount may vary depending on the final share price.
United over £2 billion on player signings since the year 2000, with £183.5 million spent in the most recent summer transfer window.
Rasmus Hojlund cost £72m from Atalanta, while Mason Mount arrived from Chelsea for £60m, but both are still adapting to life at Old Trafford.
The club’s Carrington training ground cost £22m to build, with additional spending in the following years.
Neville, however, feels United as a business are failing, saying: “If he puts some money in then it at least might deal with some of the issues that exist within the stadium.
“You don’t go into successful clothes shops or hairdressers or petrol stations or banks with leaking roofs. A leaking roof is really clear evidence that a business is not being invested in, a business is not being looked after and a business that is failing.
“I know we joke about it, but it’s a really serious thing. I take great pride in that stadium, that stadium has been my life.
“When I look over it and I see the paint has been rusted or it has not been painted or the roof is leaking and that the concourses are so tired and that the hospitality is way behind everywhere else and that the fan experience outside is probably the worst in the league, I genuinely, honestly wince inside.”
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