Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani is said to ‘remain confident’ that he will win the race to buy Manchester United despite reports of the Glazers staying in control.
The proposed takeover of Manchester United is a story that has dragged on ever since the Glazers’ announced their intention to seek ‘strategic alternatives‘ to the club’s financing, up to and including a full sale.
Since then a whole host of claims and counterclaims have been made regarding interested parties, with only a handful going public in their interest.
Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim and Ineos’ Sir Jim Ratcliffe have confirmed their interest in completing a full takeover of the club, while Elliott Management and the Carlyle Group are reported to have made bids to make a minority stake.
It has been reported that two of United’s co-owners, Joel and Avram Glazer, are keen to remain in power, while their four siblings – Darcie, Edward, Bryan and Edward – want to cash in, with a valuation of £6 billion having been set by the American family.
The family actually only owns around 69% of the club, though their class B shares give them a voting power of over 95%. Joel – who is the majority shareholder – and Avram’s shares give the duo a combined voting power of 33.49%, while their siblings hold 62.14%.
ESPN reported on Monday that Joel and Avram were now ‘confident’ of securing the minority investment required while being able to remain in power and ‘potentially double the value of the club over the next decade’.
However, the Guardian now report that despite those claims, Sheikh Jassim ‘remains confident he will succeed with his bid to buy Manchester United’.
His bid to buy Manchester United, tabled through his Nine Two Foundation, would be debt free, while Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s takeover bid will involve additional borrowing from the British billionaire.
