A Qatari bid is set to be submitted for Manchester United this week ahead of the deadline set for takeover proposals at Old Trafford.
Qatar Investment Authority will formally make an offer to takeover the Premier League side in its entirety this week, in a major development on the club’s potential sale.
The Glazer family announced their intention to sell the Red Devils in November and there has been significant interest in the club from across the world. The controversial American owners value United at around £5bn and have placed The Raine Group – the New York merchant bank who oversaw Chelsea’s takeover last year – in charge of overseeing the sale.
According to Telegraph, The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is worth around £450bn and will have no problem in meeting the asking price for United. Its other investments include the ownership of The Shard building in London and Harrods, while also owning stakes in companies such as Barclays Bank, the Volkswagen Group and Sainsbury’s.
However, complications could arise given the Qatar ownership of Paris Saint-Germain. QIA purchased the French champions through the subsidiary Qatari Sports Investments in 2011 and it remains to be seen how UEFA’s multi-club rules would be navigated.
UEFA rules ban multi-club ownership in their competitions and United could face PSG in Europe. However, a compromise was found with Red Bull’s multi-club project. Red Bull agreed to scale back its involvement in Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg, to allow German side RB Leipzig to also compete in Europe.
The Qatari bid appears the most powerful proposal to take over at Manchester United, but will face competition from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, regarded as Britain’s richest man, who has gone public with his interest in the club.
Meanwhile, the Telegraph are also reporting that Manchester United legend David Beckham has been asked to back various bids in the takeover race. Beckham discussed his openness to involvement in a takeover bid and interested parties are set to seek the help of club legends in a bid to boost their image. However, the former United midfielder and England captain has so far turned down approaches.
