Sir Jim Ratcliffe is expected to make an offer to buy Manchester United.
After being first to go public with his interest, it now looks like Sir Jim Ratcliffe faces competition from Qatari investors.
The Glazer family are preparing to recieve offers for United as a deadline has been set for mid-February. They announced in November that they were exploring different ways to welcome investment, with a full sale being tipped by many insiders.
A sale would see the end of almost 18-years of unpopular ownership.
According to Bloomberg, Ratcliffe has acquired the services of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to assist him in his quest to buy Manchester United. It is believed that the two Wall Street firms will conduct a feasibility study into Ratcliffe’s proposal for the Glazer family.
The report adds Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan would back a takeover bid with bonds and loans which would see the two banks cover the value of United’s current debt (£658m) — and the rest!
Ratcliffe has been presented as a boyhood Manchester United fan by a number of outlets, but we have yet to hear what his intentions are for our football club. It wasn’t long ago that he failed in his attempts to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich last year.
In January, a spokesperson for Ratcliffe told The Times: “We have formally put ourselves into the process.”
Now we must wait and see who will emerge as the front runner in the bidding process.
