Doha is carpeting. The chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani has revised upwards his offer to buy the Manchester United club. Sheikh Jassim is battling with Ineos CEO Jim Ratcliffe to buy Man U from the Glazer family, who have led the club for 18 years.
Ratcliffe looked best placed in a third round of bidding at the end of April. His offer allowed co-chairmen Avram and Joel Glazer to remain involved in the management of the Red Devils, a very unpopular prospect among the club's fans.
A first offer at 5.7 billion
Sheikh Jassim's offer, on the other hand, aims at a 100% takeover of the club, whose abysmal debt he promises to clear (from 700 million to more than a billion euros according to sources). According to the Sky channel, the sheikh's offer at the end of April already reached 5.7 billion euros, which would be a world record for this type of transaction.
But the Glazers hope to make seven billion from the sale and had hinted that they might ultimately not pull out if bids don't hit that mark. Relatively classic technique in a negotiation but which seems to prove itself again.
- Football
- Sport
- Manchester United
- Qatar
- Premier League