A son of Qatar’s former prime minister, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, has made an offer to purchase English Premier League team Manchester United after its American owners formally began the selling process at the end of last year. The potential sale of United would be unprecedented in the sports industry. Current majority owners the Glazer family want as much as £7 billion ($8.42bn) for the club, according to Reporters. According to Kantar, the market research company, the record 20-time English champions have over 650 million supporters all over the world.
“The offer will be fully debt free via Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation,” said a statement released on Friday on behalf of Sheikh Jassim, head of QIB, one of Qatar’s leading banks. Investment bank Raine Group, in charge of the selling process, requested offer amounts and evidence of financing from prospective bidders. According to reports, the Qatari offer is only one of many that United has received. It’s too late to submit bids now; the original deadline was last Friday. Reporters has heard that US private equity companies are among the potential bidders, with UK billionaire and lifelong United supporter Jim Ratcliffe and his chemicals business INEOS also in the running. For some time now, Ratcliffe has been vocal about his desire to acquire the Old Trafford club. The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday that Saudi Arabia had also placed an offer for United. According to Reuters’s prior reporting, a bid for Manchester United would be more than the $5.2 billion paid for London-based Premier League rivals Chelsea, and that figure did not include the cost of debt or investments. According to research conducted by Deloitte, United are the fourth wealthiest football club in the world. They are considered extremely valuable in the sporting world.
In 2005, the Glazers paid 790 million pounds ($951m) to acquire United in a heavily leveraged transaction. The club forecasts sales of up to £610m ($734m) and adjusted EBITDA of up to £140m ($168m) in the 2023 financial year. Tottenham Hotspur is reportedly expecting a deal for $3.75bn from Iranian-American businessman Jahm Najafi, while United’s Premier League rival Liverpool has also announced it is contemplating a sale.
