Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani has submitted a fifth improved bid to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family.
The Glazer family put up Man United for sale in November last year; Sheikh Jassim has submitted four bids on several negotiation stages but none of them has been accepted so far.
What has remained constant, however, is the fact that Sheikh Jassim wants a 100% takeover of Manchester United. The bid also includes fully paying off the club’s debt worth £1 billion, as well as a fund to refurbish Old Trafford and training facilities at Carrington grounds.
Sheikh Jassim’s offer is shy of the £6 billion the Glazer family are asking and it is structured differently from his rival Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Group. Ratcliffe’s bid was to initially buy the 69% stake that is owned by the Glazers but made improvements along the way that would let the Glazers retain 20% of the club’s shares.
According to Sky Sports, Sheikh Jassim indicated that he will not get involved in negotiations about the Manchester United takeover after Friday, June 9, so it is understood that the offer he has submitted today is a “take-it-or-leave-it” final bid.
It is now up to the Glazer family to make up their mind on whose offer they are accepting. According to May data from the New York Securities Exchange (NYSE) where Manchester United shares are listed, each share closed at $18.80.
This means that the club’s market capitalization was $3.09 billion (£2.47 billion), less than half the Glazers’ asking price. The Glazers bought Manchester United in 2005 at £790 million.
