Man Utd takeover: Apple ready to 'blow things up'

Stuart Telford

• 14 Jul 2023 08:48 CDT
• 3 min read

Manchester United have been on the market since November, but the Glazers are yet to accept £5 billion offers from Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Could a tech giant now pounce?

Red Devils fans are growing impatient with their club's sale process, with the Glazer family still in control at Old Trafford nine months after first inviting bids.

The record English champions, United haven't won the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson's final triumph in 2013, and they were recently hit with an FFP fine - an admittedly paltry one at €300,000 - with the Glazers failing to contribute an equity investment over the last three years.

READ: Man Utd takeover: Sheikh Jassim tipped to 'move interest' to London club

It is understood that the Glazers were hoping to achieve a sale of £6bn for the club their father Malcolm paid £800m for with a debt-leveraged buy-out in 2005, and they stand to gain yet more if they draw out the process yet further.

A 'mega offer' for media rights?

As discussed by Matt Slater in his latest article for The Athletic, United and the Premier League more generally are in for some lucrative gains in the next couple of years, with an extra Champions League place this season before the expanded FIFA Club World Cup in 2025.

"That might be worth sticking around for, and who knows? Apple or one of the other tech giants might be ready to really blow things up with a mega offer for the Premier League's media rights," he writes.

READ: The Man Utd player Sir Jim Ratcliffe dismissed as 'dumb money'

Apple have a market capitalisation of $3 trillion, which is more than the GDP of the UK, and were linked with a £5.8bn bid of their own for United in November, but it failed to materialise.

But they could yet drive up United's value, and the Glazers would be laughing all the waybto the bank. As frustrated as the club's fans - and indeed Jassim and Ratcliffe - are, they might have to wait for some time yet.