More than five months after US owners Manchester United said they would consider selling the English soccer club, the future of one of the biggest names in sport remains in doubt.
After three rounds of bidding orchestrated by US bank Raine Group, two suitors are now awaiting a verdict from the Glazer family on whether to proceed with a full or partial sale of the club, raise capital from elsewhere or perhaps do nothing at all.
The lengthy trial was conducted under a cloak of non-disclosure agreements, robberies the two bidders – British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani – about their ability to run a public relations campaign. The Glazers, who control around 95% of Manchester United’s voting rights, have owned the club since 2005.
Early expectations that a sale would set a new record for a sports team are up for discussion, particularly after the $6 billion bid for the Washington Commanders NFL franchise by a consortium led by Apollo co-founder Josh Harris last month.
Several major soccer clubs have explored new investments or outright sales since US investors Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly acquired the London club Chelsea F.C for £2.5bn almost exactly a year ago.
Chelsea received more than 250 inquiries and 12 credible offers, before narrowing it down to four finalists who wanted to buy the club in its entirety.
The auction for Manchester United did not follow the same script, with much lower interest. Some point to the more challenging economy of a transaction with much higher interest rates than a year ago.
Raine, who also spearheaded the Chelsea sale, has replicated a strategy of setting deadlines for bidders, a common tactic in negotiation designed to stir up competitive tension.
“It’s really a game and Raine is just trying to push the auction,” said Duncan Drasdo, head of the Manchester United Supporters Trust. “That’s their job, to maximize the price, and they’re trying to play one bidder against another.”
But with Chelsea, the owner – sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich – was a forced seller and the club was under heavy pressure from the British government to complete a deal. The prospect that it would be a sellout helped drive the initial wave of interest in the club.
Conversely, the pair of bidders vying for Manchester United will have to convince the Glazers to sell. The New York-listed club’s shares give the company an equity value of approximately $3.1 billion, as well as approximately $800 million of debt.
“The price tag will have filtered the list naturally,” said a longtime Glazer associate. “The beast you’re facing, if you think about the history of United, is something extraordinary.”
The Glazers have two offers on the table. Sheikh Jassim, son of Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, former prime minister and former head of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, has made a 100 per cent bid for Manchester United through an entity called the Nine Two Foundation.
The foundation, which has no website, is the entity Sheikh Jassim is using to bid.
A person close to Sheikh Jassim said his third-round bid valued the club in the region of £5bn ($6.2bn), without providing further details. THE Financial Times reported in March that Ratcliffe was planning a bid that valued Manchester United at more than £5bn, including the club’s existing debt.
The founder of chemical conglomerate Ineos, Ratcliffe has been a United fan since childhood, although he made a last-ditch attempt to buy Chelsea last year.
The Glazer family could yet avoid both offers and raise money to strengthen the club’s balance sheet, reduce debt and invest in United’s stadium. They have received several offers to help them do this from US investment firms, including Carlyle Group and Elliott Management.
Such an outcome would likely prove unpopular with fans, who have protested the Glazers’ ownership since the beginning of their 18-year tenure.
Fresh from Qatar hosting the World Cup, the initial expectation was that any bidder from the Gulf state would have better resources and be in pole position. However, people close to Sheikh Jassim’s offer have pointed out that he and his Nine Two Foundation are making private offers, without state funding.
Having entered the trial as an underdog, Ratcliffe gave himself a chance to seal the deal thanks to his assessment of the club, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Both Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe have publicly announced their opening bids, promising to restore the club, which hasn’t won the Premier League for a decade, to its former glory. But the public statements earned them a rebuke from Raine.
In March, Manchester United held a series of meetings with the suitors at the Old Trafford stadium and Carrington training ground. Sheikh Jassim did not join the meetings, instead sending advisers, including Bank of America businessmen. Ratcliffe attended in person the following day.
When the second deadline came up at the end of the month, Raine gave both bidders extensions. For the third round, which closed on April 28, bidders had to submit much more detailed proposals, according to the people involved, including how to finance them.
This potentially paves the way for a quick settlement if the Glazers decide to end their controversial tenure as landlords.
Additional reporting by Josh Noble
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