Manchester United’s potential takeover could be wrapped up ahead of Wednesday’s deadline with Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani poised to meet the Glazers’ £ 6 billion asking price.
The current owners have set a deadline of 9 pm on Wednesday for second bids and it appears the Qatari party are prepared to go big to beat Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group to the keys to Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe in a social media post stressed that he was not willing to pay over the odds and regret doing so in future.
United was first put on the market in November after the Glazer family announced that it was ‘commencing a process to explore strategic alternatives for the club.
Options ranging from bringing ‘new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company’ were to be considered with interested parties invited to come forward.
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The Raine Group, who is overseeing the process, set a soft deadline for initial bids last month with Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe the only two parties to publically confirm their interest in a full takeover.
Talks between United officials and representatives of both groups took place last week and new bids are now expected before Wednesday’s deadline.
The Daily Star reports that the Qatari bid may now have the upper hand with Sheikh Jassim willing to match the Glazers’ £ 6 billion asking price while Ratcliffe is reluctant to enter a big bidding war.
Once the revised offers are received the Raine Group will select a preferred bidder with the chosen candidate given increased access to club documents. This will give the frontrunner the chance to do more due diligence before completing a proposed sale with the current owners.
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