Battle to buy Man Utd heats up

THE battle to buy Manchester United heated up on Wednesday as Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe prepared to raise their bids for the 20-time English champions.

Both parties were expected to increase their initial offers after the submission deadline was extended by merchant bank Raine, which is assisting with the sale of the club, following confusion over the timing, the BBC reported.

Sky Sports also reported that Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe had been granted extensions to submit fresh bids. The new deadline for offers has not been made clear, according to the BBC.

United’s owners, the Glazer family, have reportedly set a world record £6 billion (US$7.3 billion) valuation for a sports club.

Sheikh Jassim’s bid for 100% control of the club promises to wipe United’s US$620 million debt and invest in a new stadium and training ground, in addition to backing for the men’s and women’s teams.

A source close to Sheikh Jassim’s bid told AFP he remains confident his bid is “the best for the club, fans and local community”.

INEOS chemical company founder Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, has been more circumspect in his assessment, insisting he will not pay a “stupid” price in a bidding war for one of football’s most iconic clubs.

“How do you decide the price of a painting? How do you decide the price of a house? It’s not related to how much it cost to build, or how much it cost to paint,” Ratcliffe told the Wall Street Journal this week.

“What you don’t want to do is pay stupid prices for things because then you regret it subsequently.” Ratcliffe, who wants the 69% stake owned by the Glazer family, said his interest in United would be “purely in winning things”, calling the club a “community asset”.

Deeply unpopular with supporters since they saddled the club with debt in a £790 million leveraged takeover in 2005, the Glazers appeared ready to cash out at an enormous profit when they invited external investment in November.

However, they could yet shun the option of selling a controlling stake in the club, with other parties interested in a minority shareholding. The initial offers from the first round of bidding last month were believed to have been worth around £4.5 billion.