Sir Jim Ratcliffe officially completes purchase of Manchester United minority stake

Cameron Smith

• 20 Feb 2024 15:33 CST
• 3 min read

Breaking

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has officially completed his acquisition of 25% of Manchester United's Class B shares and 25% of the club’s Class A shares.

Ratcliffe is the CEO of INEOS and will head up all football operations at Man Utd.

The Glazers remain in charge at Old Trafford, however Ratcliffe has a minority stake and his INEOS group will have a major say in the day-to-day running of Erik ten Hag’s side, including transfer business.

Ratcliffe, a boyhood Man Utd fan, agreed a deal with the club in late December, but has been forced to wait until the deal was approved by the Premier League board, which has now happened.

That happened on 13 February and the deal has now officially gone through.

What has Sir Jim Ratcliffe said?

In a statement released by the club, Ratcliffe said: "To become co-owner of Manchester United is a great honour and comes with great responsibility. This marks the completion of the transaction, but just the beginning of our journey to take Manchester United back to the top of English, European and world football, with world-class facilities for our fans. Work to achieve those objectives will accelerate from today.”

Joel Glazer, Man Utd's executive co-chairman added: “I would like to welcome Sir Jim as co-owner and look forward to working closely with him and INEOS Sport to deliver a bright future for Manchester United.”

Man Utd club statement

Following news of Ratcliffe's successful acquisition, Man Utd released the following club statement: "Manchester United plc (NYSE: MANU), and Trawlers Limited, an entity wholly-owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, are pleased to confirm that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has completed his acquisition of 25% of the club’s Class B shares and 25% of the club’s Class A shares, following the satisfaction of all conditions, including approvals from the Football Association and the Premier League.

The tender offer (the “Offer”) by Trawlers Limited for up to 25% of the Class A shares, at a price of $33.00 per share, expired one minute after 11:59 pm Eastern Time on 16 February 2024.

"Following the expiration, Trawlers Limited accepted for payment 13,237,834 Class A shares validly tendered in the Offer (and not validly withdrawn), representing 25% of the total outstanding Class A shares as of expiration. Computershare Trust Company N.A., the depositary for the Offer, has advised that the proration factor for the Offer is approximately 26.2%.

"Following the closing of the Offer and the acquisition of the Class B shares, Sir Jim has invested $200 million into the club for additional Class A and Class B shares via a primary issuance, resulting in ownership of approximately 27.7% of the club’s Class A shares and 27.7% of the club’s Class B shares, with a further $100 million to be invested by 31 December 2024. These funds are intended to enable future investment in infrastructure at Old Trafford."