All Blacks sponsor to tackle Manchester United

One of New Zealand Rugby’s major sponsors, INEOS, has entered the bidding process to buy English Premier league football club Manchester United.

The Glazer family, United’s U.S. owners, announced in November they had begun looking at options for the potential sale of the club.

The club are currently fourth in the premier league. INEOS, an energy and chemical company, bought French Ligue 1 club Nice in 2019 and last year began a six year sponsoship deal with New Zealand Rugby. The INEOS logo appears on the back of the playing shorts and on the front of the training Jersey of each of NZR’s teams.

In August, the company’s chair British billionaire Ratcliffe, a long-time fan of United, expressed interest in buying United.

“I can confirm that we have formally put ourselves into the process,” an INEOS spokesperson said in a statement.

INEOS’s interest in United comes after the energy group also bought French Ligue 1 club Nice in 2019. United fans have been clamouring for a change of ownership and the Glazers, who also own the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have been the target of intense criticism as the team last won silverware back in 2017.

Ratcliffe’s name was widely mentioned among United fans as someone many would welcome, although there are fears he might be priced out with some estimates putting the club’s worth at more than $US4.5 billion (FJ $9.8b).

Ratcliffe failed last year in an attempt to buy London club Chelsea, which was purchased by an investment group led by American Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.