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There is growing concern that the process to takeover Manchester United has been put on hold by current owners the Glazer family, according to reports, and that the sale period will drag into the next English Premier League season.
The US-based financial firm Raine Group, which is overseeing the takeover of the British soccer club, set an unofficial deadline for final bids to be submitted for buying the team three months ago.
Two frontrunners have emerged in the race to buy the Red Devils — Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, a Qatari banker and son of a former emir of Qatar, and Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man and CEO of chemicals company INEOS.
The Daily Mail reported Wednesday that there are now concerns among those involved in the bidding process whether the Glazers family will actually sell the soccer club.
The newspaper said that the Glazers wanted around 6 billion pounds ($7.7 billion) for the soccer club, but the two bids value Manchester United at around 5 billion pounds ($6.4 billion).
It is understood that now the Glazers’ “preferred option” is to retain control of the club and try and maximize its value in the coming years, a theory an expert posited to Al-Monitor back in March.
Sheikh Jassim, chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank, is believed to be offering a full buyout of the club, debt free, which will include investment in the soccer team’s community initiatives and its Old Trafford Stadium.
Ratcliffe is offering to buy a majority stake in the club, so if that offer is accepted, the Glazers will still retain some ownership. But the Glazers have become unpopular with some Manchester United fans, due to what they say is their mismanagement of the club’s finances.
The Guardian reported June 9 that the Qatari side had grown frustrated by the long process after making five offers for the soccer club.
There has been increasing Gulf investment in the English Premier League over the last few years, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund taking over Newcastle United in 2021 and the United Arab Emirates’ Sheikh Mansour buying Manchester City in 2008.
