Man United takeover latest as Sheikh Jassim ‘considers’ rivals and ‘documents prepared’ ahead of decision
Manchester United are still at the centre of a possible takeover as talks rumble on deeper into the summer.
During last season, the Glazers announced they would welcome investment into the club, but it’s still unclear whether they will sell the club in its entirety, albeit it does look likely. There are two main bidders at this point, with Skeikh Jassim and Jim Ratcliffe battling it out to purchase the club, but a decision is yet to made from the Glazers, and the saga rumbles on.
Jassim ‘interest’ in rivals
Sheikh Jassim is said to believe he is a frontrunner to purchase the club, but it seems he may have alternatives in his mind.
According to The Mirror, Jassim will look at United’s Premier League rivals if he cannot get his hands on the Old Trafford club. Liverpool have been mooted as a possible option after FSG looked for investment earlier this year, although the Americans are keen to remain in charge. Beyond Liverpool, Jassim would have no real options of buying a top four club.
Having said all that, it seems Jassim remains focused on buying United as the battle continues with Ratcliffe.
Document preparation
According to The Athletic, Jassim’s camp are pulling together documents ahead of a possible takeover.
It’s claimed the Qataris are so confident that they are preparing the documents they will need to complete the purchase of the club ahead of any agreement being locked in place. It’s claimed Jassim’s team are preparing transactional papers, including shareholder agreements, in a bid to speed up the process in the case they get good news.
At this point, Jassim is yet to hear back from the Glazers on his latest proposal, so it seems the preparation process is speculative at the moment.
Wilson’s ‘red herring’ claim
Commercial and finance sports expert, Professor Rob Wilson, believes United fans were mislead when they were told a takeover could happen quickly.
“The reason someone would want to buy Manchester United is because it’s probably one of the most financially successful sport properties on the planet,” Wilson told Saxo.
“If you look at the UFC merger, that puts them in the region of $20billion in terms of valuation. If you start factoring in Manchester United’s global following, I don’t think it’s beyond reason if they produce success, that in the next 10 years we could see a $10billion valuation go on to United.
“The key thing with the Glazer ownership is the quiddity of the business, because of the way they have leveraged part of the club, which creates quiddity and naturally makes it harder for them to compete in the transfer market to the extent fans would want them to give their revenue. Which is why they probably need a strategic investment which is what they initially set out for, or this full sale that is likely to go through.
“But this sort of stuff can take a year comfortably, it’s so complicated because of the leverage, the Glazers, the way the board is made up and the flotation on the New York Stock Exchange. I think fans have been sold a red herring that these deals can be completed quickly because they simply can’t.
“One thing we can be pretty sure of is that it’s likely to be sold, and the price is not too far out from what I anticipated, which was around six to eight billion dollars as it’s one of the biggest sport properties on the planet.”
