Almost a year after the Manchester United was put up for sale, the English club remains under the control of the Glazer family – much to the chagrin of its most fervent fans.
Saturday’s news that the Qatari banker, the sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani would withdraw its offer from the process seemed to leave the door open for British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe. But the owner of the petrochemical giant Ineos appears to only be looking to acquire a minority stake in the 25% of the team, which would leave the Glazers as the majority owners.
“Someone who arrives as a minority partner and leaves the Glazers indefinitely would be a nightmare”Manchester United Supporters Trust spokesman Chris Rumfitt told The Associated Press. “What the club needs is real change and it needs real investment and we find it hard to believe that will happen while the Glazers have the majority stake for life.”
On sale?
The Glazers, the American family that owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, announced in November that they would seek new investments and hired Raine merchant bank to oversee the process, which included a possible outright sale.
The late Malcolm Glazer acquired the team in 2005 for 790 million pounds ($1.4 billion). The team’s supporters criticized the nature of the acquisition that loaded the club with debt, as well as the lack of investment and dividends taken by the owners.
Interested
Ratcliffe, who was born in Manchester and has been a fan of the team since childhood, had a long-standing ambition to buy the club. Through Ineos, he intended to acquire the stake of the 69% of the Glazers and spoke of “a modern, progressive, fan-focused property”.
Sheikh Jassim is CEO of Qatar Islamic Bank. He wanted to acquire the 100% The team and fans agreed due to their desire to get rid of the Glazer family.
He also promised to eliminate the team’s court, invest in a stadium, training center and the lower teams so that “The team returns to the years of glory on and off the field.”
Delay
The process was expected to be completed in time for the summer transfer window that began in June. It looked like it would be a fight between Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim, but the process was delayed and fans became impatient by protesting outside Old Trafford and chanting “Glazers Out” at games.
The news that Sheikh Jassim would withdraw his offer came after months of silence and uncertainty about the process.
Whats Next?
United will likely have a board meeting on Thursday, but it is unclear whether they will vote on Ratcliffe’s proposal.
Source: AP
Source: Gestion
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