Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
RED DEVILS LOOK RIPE FOR APPLE
a potential deal. Apple are the largest tech company in the world with an annual revenue of almost £326bn – and an estimated net worth as of this month of £2trillion.
The California-based firm have no experience of owning a football club the size of United.
But CEO Tim Cook is keen to explore the opportunities that owning the Old Trafford club (below) could provide – and will line up talks with the banks appointed to oversee the sale, which include investment bankers The Raine Group.
Part of Cook’s plan could include Apple funding the building of a new state-ofthe-art stadium that would be regarded as the best in the world.
The billionaire Glazers had initially set an asking price of £8.25bn, but have been told this is an unrealistic figure in the current market.
If Apple were to complete a deal it would make the Red Devils one of the richest clubs in the world. The firm’s value is comparable to the megarich Saudi Arabian owners of Newcastle.
The Glazers bought United in 2005 but went on to become hugely unpopular with the supporters.
The tipping point came in the wake of the club’s involvement in the failed European Super League proposal and subsequent criticism that followed.
The Glazers will spend the next month talking to interested parties before drawing up a shortlist of potential buyers, which is expected to include British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, of Ineos chemicals.