Reports: Sir Jim Ratcliffe to buy 25% stake of Manchester United for $1.6 billion
Several reports claim Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to buy a 25% stake in Manchester United this week.
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Reports from the BBC, The Independent and The Athletic all state that a proposal from Ratcliffe is set to be voted on this week.
Per a report from our partners in the UK at Sky Sports News, an offer of $1.58 billion for a 25% stake of the club is on the table from INEOS owner Ratcliffe, as reports state the petrochemical billionaire wants to take over the running of the football operations at the club.
It is believed the deal can be ratified at a Manchester United board meeting this Thursday (October 19).
What does this mean for Manchester United?
There is finally light at the end of the tunnel for Manchester United fans wanting a fresh start at their club, but the Glazer family seem likely to remain majority owners. For now.
Per Sky Sports News, Ratcliffe wanted to buy all of the Glazers' 67% shareholding but this deal will see him arrive in partnership with the American businessmen.
After publicly saying almost a year ago that they would listen to offers for a potential sale of the club or new investment, the kind of offers the Glazer family expected for Manchester United didn't seem to arrive. Ratcliffe is a boyhood Manchester United fan and he and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani seemed to be the only two in the running over the last six months.
What is Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s plan?
Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim offered to buy 100% of Manchester United for way above the $3.3 billion valuation of the club on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), but he pulled out of the deal last week.
So a deal for Ratcliffe and INEOS to buy equal chunks of shares from both the Glazer family and the club stock publicly listed on the NYSE seems to be the winner.
It has been widely reported that Ratcliffe sees this initial 25% stake as a starting point and will look to buy more shares from the Glazer family over time in a 'phased takeover' of the Premier League club.
Ratcliffe's INEOS currently owns Nice in France's Ligue 1, while they also own Lausanne Sport in Switzerland's top-flight and part-own the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team.
Quite what Ratcliffe has planned for Manchester United remains to be seen, but it's clear big changes are coming for the day-to-day operations at Old Trafford.
