Man Utd takeover: Clear favourite FINALLY emerges

Tom Weber

12 Oct 2023 19:51 BST
3 min read

Sheikh Jassim, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Man Utd — © ProShots

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is emerging as the favourite in the Manchester United takeover saga - but there's a twist.

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The drawn-out ownership battle over the Red Devils could be nearing its conclusion for now. According to Bloomberg, INEOS billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been selected as the preferred bidder by the Glazers.

However, there is a problem as far as Man Utd fans are concerned. The Glazers prefer Ratcliffe's bid because he revised his offer to only acquire a minority stake, meaning that the controversial American owners will stay firmly in control for the time being.

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The Glazers do not want to relinquish their grip on the club as they would have had to do had Ratcliffe's rival, Sheikh Jassim, been successful with his 100 per cent takeover offer.

Ratcliffe investment details

Ratcliffe, who recently received a sizeable dividend from his co-ownership of Formula 1 team Mercedes, could initially only acquire a stake of as little as 25 per cent in a deal that would value Man Utd at over £5 billion.

According to the above-mentioned report, the Glazers and Ratcliffe's camp will discuss the offer in the coming days. If Ratcliffe gets the nod from the American owners, it likely won't be the end of the takeover saga, only a brief reprieve.

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As journalist Ben Jacobs recently claimed, Ratcliffe still has designs on complete ownership of the club and this minority investment would only represent the first step towards achieving it.

Ratcliffe's initial proposal of majority ownership was only to buy out the Glazers which aroused the ire of minority stakeholders. His new strategy could see him gradually buying out the Glazers and minority owners with a view to completing the process by 2026.

Either way, the ownership battle over Man Utd will probably continue as long as the Glazers remain in control, while Sheikh Jassim won't disappear from football. The Qatari banker could look to acquire a different Premier League club, for example.