Many of the parties who will declare their interest in buying Manchester United next week could turn out to be “jokers” who have no intention of taking the club into a brighter future.
One source close to a potential bidder said that the simple process of notifying US bank Raine of a plan to wrestle United from the much-maligned Glazer family by next Friday invites parties who simply want the publicity joining the race for such an institution brings, doubting there are many, if any, serious bidders at this stage.
“What happens next Friday is you submit a letter, that is two paragraphs, one saying this is proof of the funds, and the other that I want to be custodians of the club, and that’s it”, the source said.
“There will be all kinds of jokers who are willing to submit. I don’t think there are any serious people who are willing to pay £6bn. Raine are experts at this game.”
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Ratcliffe, however, is yet to table an offer. As i reported last month, the £6bn price the Glazers are believed to want to relinquish United after 18 years of largely unpopular rule may even be beyond Britain’s richest man.
As a result, Ratcliffe is considering joining a consortium of bidders, alongside a Middle East group, to complete the takeover, i understands. Investment Corporation of Dubai have been linked, with Avram Glazer currently in Dubai, pictured watching the T20 cricket franchise he owns, the Desert Vipers, from the Royal Box.
Investment Corporation of Dubai and Ratcliffe’s INEOS company did not respond when approach by i for comment, while United declined to comment.
In further worrying news for United fans desperate to see the Glazer family turfed out, several trading insiders have told i that there is talk of Joel and Avram Glazer staying on, either as part of a consortium of new buyers, or the brothers will simply buy out the rest of the family, their four siblings, who own equal shares of the club.
The insiders said all the anti-Glazer vitriol in recent years has made the other less involved family members “even more disinterested” and they “want out”.
The Glazers have achieved their goal – the share price has more than doubled since the American owners said they would invite a sale. The news of the Qatar interest saw the club’s New York-listed shares jump by almost 16.5 per cent in pre-market trading.
Also, they are under no pressure to sell. If they don’t get what they want for it, they could stay put. There have been fewer signs of any protests around Old Trafford recently, and if things keep going well on the pitch the discontent will dwindle further. Look at Arsenal, you can’t hear much dissidence towards the Kroenke owners now.
This, of course, can all change. There are US investors pondering whether to bid, although one of the frontrunners to buy Chelsea, the Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, are not interested, i understands. Several consortiums are being organised this week, but it remains unclear as to who will be involved.
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If there is to be a Qatari bidder, the rules will either have to be severely bent or changed completely to allow Qatari Sports Investment (QSI), a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, to take the club over, as they currently own Paris Saint-Germain, and cannot be in control of two teams in Uefa competition.
Private Qatari investors can still launch a bid, but QSI, i understands, are only interested in a minority stake in a Premier League club and are “dedicated” to PSG. Other Middle Eastern parties are watching on with intrigue.
Nonetheless, the list of potential bidders for United is a much smaller one than anyone expected one week ahead of the, albeit “soft”, deadline for interested parties to put their money where their mouth is.
When listed, a clamour reminiscent of the busiest trading floors on Wall Street was expected as buyers attempted to acquire a sporting team of United’s grandeur.
Instead, as one insider puts it, things are “looking a little desperate”.
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