Glazers disagree over price for United as Saudis loom
MANCHESTER United’s owners are split over the valuation of the club, according to sources close to the sales process.
The Glazers have appointed USbased financial advisers The Raine Group to find a buyer willing to pay between £6billion and £7billion.
Privately however, at least one of the brothers has warned that offers may be considerably lower.
The source revealed that some family members would be prepared to consider bids of less than £5billion. The majority of the family are said to remain bullish about the price and are hoping that several bidders emerge to drive the price up. It is also understood the Glazers
have not decided whether to sell the club completely or retain a substantial share.
The Mail on Sunday has also learned of two private groups from Saudi Arabia set to enter the bidding.
Reports this week revealed potential buyers have been instructed to submit a single-paragraph offer, detailing only the amount and percentage of equity, on Friday, with proof of funds attached. Of the groups that have so far given an expression of interest to gain access to a limited set of documents, insiders close to the process believe only five are serious contenders to become the new owners at Old Trafford.
United’s New York bankers will begin the exercise of reducing as many as 20 offers to as few as two or three preferred bidders.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe remains the only bidder to have publicly confirmed an interest and the British petrochemicals billionaire has sought backing from major investment banks JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. Other bids are expected to come from the United States, Qatar, China and Singapore.
A record number of football clubs have secretly been put up for sale.
Merger and acquisition experts believe ‘more than half of the 92 Premier League and EFL clubs are currently on the market’.
Gerald Krasner, consultant at Begbies Traynor, said recently: ‘The escalating financial problems of running a football club have seen many club owners run out of steam to the extent that, behind the scenes, more clubs are in fact up for sale than we have seen for decades.’