Manchester United fans might not be getting rid of their unpopular owners just yet as new details in takeover have emerged
(Image credit: PA)
Manchester United owners the Glazers could continue their majority shareholding of the club, after details of new investment have been revealed following the Friday deadline for proposals.
American hedge fund Elliott Investment Management have offered the Glazers the financial backing to remain as owners of Manchester United, ESPN(opens in new tab) report.
In November, the Glazer family said they were considering selling the club as they “explore strategic alternatives”, which could also have included new investment.
Elliott Management’s offer would therefore benefit the Glazers, who would retain majority ownership of the club while also receiving extra finance in the club. The hedge fund has previous of financing football clubs, helping former AC Milan owner Li Yonghong before becoming the official proprietor of the Italian side when Yonghong defaulted on his £350 million debt to Elliott.
In June 2022, Elliott Management sold AC Milan to RedBird Capital Partners for around £1 billion.
According to The Sun(opens in new tab), the Glazers would actually prefer not to sell the club.
“It’s still not clear if the Glazers actually want to sell and, if they do, it will only be for top dollar,” an insider told the publication.
“It’s possible they are keener on a partial sale rather than a full one at this stage, as that might value the club higher. What is obvious is that they want to maximise their profits by selling at their preferred price or not at all.
“The other possibility nobody is discounting is they will simply decide that none of the bids is anywhere near what they want and call it off, in the hope that the market conditions change in their favour in a year or so.”
What’s more, the Glazers reportedly have no intention of selling Manchester United for less than their £6 billion asking price, a much higher valuation than the reported offers of up to £5 billion from Qatari Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos.
The two parties formally confirmed their offers for the club on Friday 17 February with Raine Group, the merchant bank exclusively advising Manchester United in the sale of the club.
Those two bids are the only ones that have gone public, though, meaning there could be others that have been made matching the Glazers’ valuation.
Source: fourfourtwo.com
