The deadline is looming for the final bids to takeover Manchester United.
Accoridng to Bloomberg, Manchester United have asked prospective bidders for the club to reveal their source of wealth and inform who would be the ultimate owner of the club if their bid was successful.
The update comes as the deadline for the third round of bids looms large, on Friday at 10pm. So far, after two rounds, Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have been the two names leading the race to become permanent owners of Manchester United.
In addition, US Investment firms like Elliott have offered to finance bids of interested parties and even offered Glazers money for redevelopment work and stay as owners.
What does this update mean?
The timing of this update is interesting. Recently, reports emerged that Sir Jim Ratcliffe had made a creative offer to the Glazers. In the offer, he had proposed to have a controlling stake in the club while still leaving 18-20% of the club in Glazers’ hands.
This was particularly interesting as the two most active individuals- Joel and Avram Glazer, have reportedly always been opposed to the idea of parting ways with the club. A report even suggested that the Glazers could stay as owners.
However, this offer by Sir Jim Ratcliffe would give Glazers the best of both worlds. The club could increase in value under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s investment, and Glazers would be out of the public eye and removed from accountability, just the way they prefer.
Therefore, this update would leave Sheikh Jassim’s bid in doubt. As the son of a former Prime Minister of Qatar, the source of Sheikh Jassim’s wealth has been under scrutiny ever since he made his interest known. Moreover, there are doubts as to who the ultimate owner would be in case his bid was successful. It is difficult to separate the state from the individual in Qatar and the club being owned by the Gulf state would pose uncomfortable questions for all involved.
In such a situation, it would become difficult for Sheikh Jassim to move forward with the process. Therefore, the news of Glazers asking for the source of wealth as well as clarity on owners, combined with Sir Jim Ratcliffe being open to leaving 18-20% of the club in Glazers’ hands can be construed as the start of sidelining of Sheikh Jassim’s bid.
Of course, at this point, this is all theory and speculation. Things should become much clearer after the deadline passes. However, the takeover process has been anything but clear till this point. One wouldn’t bet on that changing still.
