Jim Ratcliffe issues confident Manchester United bid statement amid Glazer uncertainty

Manchester United PLC has been for sale since November 2022, when the Glazer family announced that they were looking for options of “alternative investment”.

The subsequent 10 months have seen multiple bids for Manchester United, with two main contenders emerging – British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim.

The two parties have submitted nine bids between them for Erik ten Hag‘s club, with the largest bid coming from Sheikh Jassim valuing the club at above £5 billion, if reports are to be believed.

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Ratcliffe’s INEOS bid was a little more complicated than a full takeover – INEOS have bid for the shares of the Glazer family. They have offered to buy either 51% of the Glazer family shares, making them majority owners, or 69% of the club, which is the entirety of the Glazer’s United shares.

There is yet to be any answer from the Glazer family to the bids, with some rumours claiming that they will take the club off the market and try again to sell for £10 billion in 2025 – although other claims have contradicted this, saying that this is yet to be communicated to the bidders.

“The Manchester United bid would have been unthinkable two or three years ago if we hadn’t had some of the experiences, and some of them quite difficult experiences, with Lausanne and Nice,” Ratcliffe said to INEOS.

“You can’t really contemplate acquiring a brand like Manchester United and failing because the failure is just far too public and excruciating in a deal like that.”

There is yet to be any end in sight regarding the sale of Manchester United PLC.